The student body of Benson Polytechnic High School purchased the transmitter and other equipment from Stubbs Electric in Portland for $1,800.
On March 23, 1923, the student body of Benson was licensed by the federal government to operate a radio station using 200 watts of power on 834 kilocycles.
The station made its formal debut on the air and was officially dedicated in early May 1923, between the hours of 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., on the opening night of the 5th annual Benson Tech Show.
Because the 88-92 MHz region was dedicated to non-commercial broadcasting, this allowed for schools to fairly easily obtain licenses from the FCC.
WHHS, Haverford Senior High School's radio station also started in 1949, located in Havertown, Pennsylvania.
Many of the licensed stations are assigned to suburban school districts in a few large metro areas: Chicago, Indianapolis, Detroit, Boston, Philadelphia, Seattle and to a lesser extent San Francisco and Cleveland.
[6] The awards began as a small enterprise, but have grown each year with entries from stations in Michigan, Connecticut, Illinois, Tennessee, Iowa, and more.