| The Future Of Amateur Radio - It’s Here TODAY!! Sharon Carter |
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Sharon (KG4HKO) and Andrea (KG4IUM) (red cap)teaching Amature Radio at Richards Middle School |
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For me, it started several years ago when my husband became involved in amateur radio. After almost a decade of marriage, we discovered that we had a childhood wish in common. Soon I, too, got my ticket. Immediately, I began to imagine the ways that the hobby could be useful in my classroom. It started with another type of dream. A dream that each of us thought was a solitary dream, and discovered with awe was shared by many. As a teacher of middle school physical science, I am always looking for ways to help my students see the real-life applications of the material I ask them to learn. “What,” I asked myself, “would happen if I started integrating radio technology into my classroom?” OK, so it WASN’T all that original, but I didn’t know that then. Unfortunately, I wasn’t successful convincing my administration that this was a GREAT idea. At around the same time, a young lady named Andrea Hartlege KG4IUM, was getting her Technician license. She quickly became very active (especially with emergency communications), and wanted to carry her radio to school. School policy was against electronic devices carried by students, and her school administration was NOT receptive to the idea. Flash forward several months. Susan Swiderski AF4FO negotiates a demonstration of ham radio techniques at a local middle school. Interestingly, all of these people knew one another. They were involved in several of the same radio clubs, and were beginning to talk about what they had in mind. Andrea was able to take time off (from her middle school six miles down the road). I took a personal day from my middle school in a nearby county. All-in-all, about fifteen amateurs descended on Richards Middle School in Gwinnett County, Georgia one day last spring. The eighth grade students we visited were really intrigued by what we had to share, and the operators had a wonderful time interacting with the young people while sharing their love of radio. I took the opportunity to drop off a resume - the school is only three miles from my home. Here is where the fun part comes in. I was offered a job at Richards - in part because of my participation in the demonstration. As a part of the deal, I offered to start an Amateur Radio Club for the students, and to introduce radio concepts in my classes. Meanwhile, my husband, Bill KG4FXG was in communication some people at ARRL as a result of his work with the National Traffic System and morse code nets. Through him, I learned of the Big Project. I was amazed to learn that the ARRL was as interested in getting amateur radio into schools as I was, and there were other teachers all over who were already doing the same things that I had only dreamed of. The Richards Middle School Amateur Radio Club was born, and we were fortunate to become the second Big Project School in the country. Following close behind, Andrea was able to convince her school to permit a demonstration, and was able to form the Sweetwater Amateur Radio Club. So, who cares? Well, nearly 50 young people, ages 11-14, for starters. And let’s not forget the core of ten to fifteen dedicated amateurs who are giving their time and talents to meet with these young people. We’ve really just begun (the first meeting at Richards was in November, 2001). Sweetwater had its first meeting this week - at the end of January, 2002. Today, one of my club members came to me proudly displaying a print-out from the internet - the results of his practice Technician exam, showing that he had successfully completed the exam on the computer. As I write this, I am gathering information to help him find the next testing session in the area. By our next club meeting in mid-February, we will probably be able to greet our first new ham. Of course, not all of these students will become amateur operators. Most will not go on to study electronics or engineering, and few if any will be in the forefront of communications design in the coming years. Still, the excitement they show, and the looks on the faces of those who have made their first assisted contact, will glow for years to come. And who knows…. maybe the kids of generations to come will be studying the names of these hams of the future. |
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or most of us,
the future is a dream,
a not-quite-real and unforeseeable possibility. Those of us in amateur radio hope that our hobby continues to be a part of the future,
and transforms the world to come as it has transformed the world in which we live.
Those of us who are schoolteachers see the future every day in the faces of our students.
I’d like to give you just a glimpse of what part of that future will be. It started with another type of dream.
A dream that each of us thought was a solitary dream, and discovered with awe was shared by many.
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| Copyright © 2003-2008, Sharon Carter All rights reserved |