KBPS

Bill Cooper – AM 1450 KBPS General Manager

Portland is my hometown.  I attended Sabin Elementary School, Benson High School and Mount Hood Community College.

I was the first student at Benson to take KBPS as a major.  The Benson radio program and KBPS put me on the path for a successful career of more than 30 years in commercial broadcasting.  I have worked for a number of radio stations in the northwest, including KGW-AM 620, KGON 92.3FM, 1190 KEX and AM860 KPAM in Portland, KVI-FM in Seattle, KITI in Chehalis and KBZY in Salem.  I also spent more than 5 years as an on-air reporter for KPTV Channel 12 in Portland.

In 2004 I retired from commercial broadcasting to return to Benson High School to become General Manager of KBPS.  I feel proud to be able to help introduce a new generation of students to the exciting, and evolving, world of broadcasting.

Steve Naganuma – Broadcast Program Teacher

I was born and raised in Oregon.  I attended Vestal grade school, Benson High School and Portland State University.

I spent 30 years working for some of the top Portland radio stations including K103, Z100, Q105, Magic 107 and KYTE.  While working for those stations, I taught radio broadcasting part-time at Mt. Hood Community College from 1982-1997.

I returned to Benson High School in 1997 to teach the sophomore radio broadcasting class.  I was very excited to return to Benson’s outstanding KBPS broadcasting program.  My first paid job was a part-time weekend announcer at KPAM 97.1 FM while I was a junior at Benson High School.  In 2004, I retired from commercial radio to focus on my teaching career.