Rock-a-Thon is an annual fundraiser run by WLTL that funds the entire year of production, including necessary equipment upgrades, meetings, merch, and more. From March 6 to 8, for 72 hours straight, WLTL will play music, do activities, and have fun on air on station 88.1. LTTV will stream the event live for its entirety. This year’s goal is to raise $30,000 to convert WLTL’s studio into a more accessible and collaborative space for live performances. 

“Rock-A-Thon is more than just raising money for our station,” WLTL programming director Charles Plewa ‘26 said. “It’s about coming and working together as a community, being creative, and most of all, putting on the three best days of programming that we see year-round.” 

Sponsors and donors from the LT community help WLTL reach their goal, Plewa said. In return, WLTL helps community businesses by raising awareness during their programs. 

“Rock-a-Thon is really only possible with the help of our community and our donors who support us, and we’re really just so grateful for them,” WLTL operation manager Paxton Cutler ‘26 said. “They’re the reason we can keep the station running the way that it does”. 

In order to ensure that more students and families from the community– both staff and non-staff– were able to participate in Rock-A-Thon, the days were changed from the four-day weekend in celebration of President’s Day to early March.

“WLTL has been on the air since 1968, and in that time [the LTHS] community has come to depend on WLTL as a source of entertainment and information,” WLTL sponsor Christopher Thomas said. “While we do this every day, year around, Rock-A-Thon reminds our listeners that as a community based radio station, we need their support to continue to do what we do, and it is amazing to watch the community come together for us each year.”

Lots of activities occur during the LTTV live segment of Rock-a-Thon. Some of last year’s activities that may continue for this production include taking shots of hot sauce, dying hair, or doing a dare after a donation. For members of WLTL, getting shifts is competitive, Cutler said. Everyone wants to have their own fun show. Planning begins months in advance in order to make everything flow smoothly.

“[Rock-a-Thon takes] a while to plan, but seeing everything come together that weekend with the fun activities, the overnight shifts, and being live makes all that work really rewarding and special,” Cutler said. “It’s one of the memories I’ll take with me for a long time after LT”.

Because WLTL is continuously on air, shifts are scheduled to ensure members are able to continue. Day shifts are around four hours and are distributed amongst the members; overnight shifts are done by WLTL managers. LTTV also established its own shifts in order to keep the stream ongoing online. 

“I love working with WLTL,” LTTV member Emily Schuler ‘26 said. “Rock-a-Thon is a big deal; it is our biggest fundraiser of the year as well. The stream is continuous, and so a lot of work goes into creating and working shifts, planning events.” 

Streamed events help bring more engagement with both donors and the LT community in general, Schuler said. Past WLTL and LTTV collaborations include live events such as concerts that are hoped to be more recurring once WLTL’s goal with Rock-a-Thon is hit.

“I enjoyed the [collaboration with WLTL for] the live performances from Post Sex Nachos and Six Foot Blonde,” Schuler said. “They were really special and some of my favorite concerts we have covered.”

WLTL is so important to the LT community, Cutler said. Music brings people together, it’s a common ground for many people in which they enjoy. With so many different types of music, WLTL does a good job of playing a large variety of genres. However, WLTL and Rock-a-Thon are useful tools to have for other valuable insights. 

“The skills you take with you, being able to talk professionally with businesses and learning about the strategies of fundraising and how to do that [are useful] even after high school and college,” Cutler said.

Last year’s WLTL Rock-a-Thon program had a ‘90s theme and fun shows like hallway ping-pong. Stream this year’s production live on station 88.1 from March 6 to 8 to find out the theme and hear WLTL fooling around.