Radio Host Kelly Ford spends some time with TJ’s AVID students.
by Vince Crespin
photo by Kevin Fleming
On October 21 Thomas Jefferson’s AVID students were paid a visit by special guest Kelly Ford of the KYGO morning show, who gave the students a unique perspective on her career.
The visit was organized by Aimee Witulski, teacher and sponsor of the AVID program, who was excited to have the radio personality in the building. “It’s always nice to have successful people come and talk to the students. Whenever you can have somebody such as Kelly come in and get the kids excited it’s a treat to watch. Not to mention it was a blast to see Coach [Tim] Owens get so giddy, since I know Kelly is on his favorite morning show. I have never seen him smile so much,” said Witulski
Ford, who started off in the radio broadcast industry 17 years ago, was happy to be with the students and welcomed any questions. As the students inquired about anything that came across their minds, Ford was happy to answer questions and gave away 98.5 KYGO lanyards for anyone who wasn’t shy. One student asked her what the hardest thing about working on the radio was; she simply replied, “ Waking up at 4:00 every morning is by far the hardest thing. It has a tendency to throw your day out of whack.”
Ford, originally from Kentucky and a graduate of “the Harvard of Kentucky” (Western Kentucky University as Ford jokingly put it), got her first job as an intern at a classic rock station in her home state. “The biggest thing about this line of work, especially as a female, is persistence. You have to want to improve all the time and always want to be the best. As long as you want to do well and work at it, you have a good chance to be successful.”
The highlight for a few students was being on the radio, to give short sound bites on their opinions about the current presidential elections. Senior Kevin Fleming who was quoted had fun meeting Ford. “ It was nice to meet Kelly, I am interested in Journalism myself, so it was nice to get a chance to speak with someone with actual experience in the field. Plus, it is always fun anytime you have a chance to get on the radio,” said Fleming.
Click below to hear the sound bites from the TJ Spartan AVID.
