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light lunch melissa wade

Source: Victoria McGraw / Radio One Digital

Congrats are in order for our very own Melissa Wade!

Melissa has been honored by Durham Public Schools this week as a “DPS Notable.” As you may know, she is a proud product of DPS, attending Mangum Elementary and Carrington Middle before graduating from Northern High School in 1987.

In her profile, Melissa talks about her experiences as a student and the many opportunities she had. Clearly, her DPS days had a lasting effect on her career as a broadcaster. Here are a few fun facts from the article!

  • Melissa’s interest in broadcasting started when she and her cousin posed as DJs for an imaginary radio station one summer. She actually called several family members for a fake contest about Michael Jackson songs. Apparently, she was so good, one relative actually thought they won $10,000!
  • At DPS, Melissa was a good student, athlete, and dancer.
  • Melissa was the first Black student to earn a spot at Carrington Middle’s dance team.
  • Melissa was a student bus driver at Northern High and was awarded “School Bus Driver of The Year.”
  • She also dabbled in music, playing clarinet in the marching band.
  • Attending UNC-Chapel Hill, Melissa was originally a business major. However, she switched after an internship at the school’s billing office.
  • During her senior year at UNC-Chapel Hill, she held an internship at our sister station, Foxy 107/104. When Radio One Raleigh decided to add a gospel station, Melissa asked if the station manager needed help with programming. To her surprise, she was hired on the spot!

And the rest, as they say, was history!

Check out the rest of the article HERE! Congrats, Melissa!