88.5 FM — The Voice of MSCS

Broadcasting Greatness. #GreatnessGrowsHere

WQOX 88.5 FM is Memphis-Shelby County Schools' own radio station — a non-commercial educational station licensed to the district and broadcast out of the MSCS Communications Center in Midtown, alongside C19TV on cable channel 19. It is a real station with a real signal and real professionals on the mic, and it is also a training ground: MSCS students learn board operation, production, engineering and air work in a live commercial-grade studio. A Tennessee Radio Hall of Fame station — its general manager, John Best, was inducted in 2021, and the station received the Hall of Fame's Luther Community Service Award in 2023.

Listen Live · 88.5 FM Memphis

WQOX 88.5 FM — The Voice of MSCS

Broadcasting Greatness, 24/7, straight off the district's own signal.

Full schedule & video stream at voiceofmscs.com

What WQOX 88.5 FM Does

MAD Morning Show

Mornings with Mike — hosted by Michael Adrian Davis, 6:00 am to 10:00 am. The wake-up slot for a city that goes to work early.

Kavaunjay's Mid-Day Vibe

Hosted by Kavaunjay — energy straight through the middle of the day.

P-Smooth's Lounge

Smooth Jazz Sundays, mixed by Patrick Richmond.

Students On the Board

The point of a district-owned station is the kids. MSCS students run equipment, cut production and go on air at 88.5 and C19TV — a broadcast career pathway that starts in high school, not after a four-year bill.

Leadership

Marcus Taylor

Broadcaster, entrepreneur & founder of Sports Sanitizers LLC

Marcus Taylor is Memphis through and through — a radio show host and the voice behind the podcast “MI Moments w/ Marcus J” (Motivational & Inspirational), a culture trainer and speaker, and the founder of Sports Sanitizers LLC. He started that company during COVID-19, when Memphis-Shelby County Schools athletes lost their season and his own son, a star running back, needed a senior year on the field: Marcus built a business sanitizing football equipment so the kids could play. It grew into a Memphis facilities and maintenance company that now cleans and maintains buildings across the city. “I’m a servant and my company reflects that moral reality,” he says. “I don’t micromanage employees, I encourage them to want better, I love creating the new workforce, and I love serving those in need.” He funded it out of his own pocket, never took outside assistance, and still gets up every day expecting today to beat yesterday — because, as he puts it, people are depending on him to be better.

A Microphone, a Mop and a Payroll — Same Lesson

Marcus Taylor's story is the one we tell working people every week: nobody handed him anything, he bought his own equipment, he met a payroll before he paid himself, and he built the workforce he wanted to see. “I love creating the new workforce” is a labor sentence whether it comes from a hall or from a small business owner in Memphis. Between 88.5's studio and his shop floor, there is a path for a young person who can run a board, run a crew or run a buffer — and this app exists to connect them to the apprenticeship, the diploma and the union card that make it a career instead of a job.

A Community Partner of Labor Education

Labor needs a microphone and the district has one. 88.5 FM and C19TV reach Memphis families every morning, and the students behind the glass are the apprentices, stewards and small business owners of the next twenty years. If you run a local, get your story on the air, invite a student crew to cover your hall, and open a door for the young people learning the trade on that board.

Connect with 88.5 FM — The Voice of MSCS

Want to get involved, partner, or learn more? Reach out through their website.