[Park] Fw: school

[John J. Miller]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: Carolyn Truesdale
To: seaspark at ptd.net
Sent: Saturday, February 18, 2006 2:46 PM
Subject: school


                                    Adopting a School

                    Well here we are in a new electronic revolution, 
computers, I-Pods, and video games. How can amateur radio compete? How can 
Amateur radio survive? Kids have no interest in learning about ham radio. 
Ham radio is for grandpa or grandma- not for the kids. Kids have cell 
phones, I-Pods, computers, and little time for sitting around tuning a rig 
to a station half way around the world. For that matter, why learn that 
dit-dah dit-dah thing that's old hat?  Nobody uses that any more.

           Well like in nature when you lose one creature, you usually lose 
5 more that depended on the fellow to keep those species alive. And 
technology is not any different.
             The last ham fest I attended was a sea of gray and very few 
young folks were there. The ham club I am secretary of is also a sea of gray 
with the average age between 50 and 90. Our youngest and only young member 
is 30 years old. So what are we doing wrong as a community of communication?
             Maybe we need to get out there and go to grade schools, middle 
schools and high schools and offer our expertise and promote our hobby to 
the young children and teach them about amateur radio and where the 
technology came from for that cell phone or computer.
             The ARRL has grants for schools to teach and set up ham radio 
stations right in the classrooms at no expense to the school or teachers. 
So why are we not out there promoting ham radio before it dies completely? 
Every club in America should adopt a school and donate a few hours of time 
giving these kids a chance to maybe talk to the astronauts, or a country 
that they may have never heard of.
           There is only a hand full of schools across this great land that 
currently use Amateur radio as a teaching aid in the classrooms.
          The importance of amateur radio has been proven over and over in 
our communities across the country every year that has past since ham radio 
came into assistance.  Hurricane Katrina was a good example of why we cannot 
let amateur radio pass away. So lets consider adopting a school as a club 
project.
                     Thank you
                      KD5IBY
                      The Old Captain 73