[SFDXA] Youth CW Academy Pilot Program - from CWops

[Bill]

/Know any you//ths that may have an interest in ham radio and learn code 
too? An interesting take on it too.
/

//*
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*Youth CW Academy Pilot Program*

Rob Brownstein, K6RB

The Youth CW Academy program has been brewing for about two years, now, 
and it is finally ready to be launched. CWops is sponsoring a CW Academy 
program aimed squarely at young people. The pilot program will begin in 
January 2018.

For the last 50 years, ham radio has been ageing. The average age of a 
licensed operator is now above 60 years old. In contrast, back in 1960, 
the average age was just below 30. The ARRL points to the increased 
number of licensees, these days, but the real question is how many 
remain committed to radio? The HF bands are notable for the decline in 
daytime activity with the exception of DXpedition pileups and contests.

True, young people have many distractions in their daily lives – school, 
social media, smartphones, games – so for years the appeal of ham radio 
among the youth has been waning. Teenagers, today, are not wowed by 
wireless communications the way we baby boomers were wowed. Nearly all 
of them have a wireless transceiver in a pocket. So, 2 meter 
handi-talkies, repeaters and the like have little long-lasting appeal. 
And, frankly, neither does HF phone or RTTY.

We have found that a reasonable number of teens and sub-teens, however, 
are attracted to CW. It shares many of the qualities of texting, which 
is something a lot of them do, routinely. So, the time appears ripe to 
entice young folks to ham radio by virtue of its Morse Code heritage 
rather than the now jaded magic of wireless technology. Does it really 
matter why they may flock to HF CW? The truth is if we can get a sizable 
number of kids on the air, on HF, using CW, we have a shot at 
rejuvenating a hobby that would otherwise be unlikely to exist in 25 years.

So, here’s our chance to embellish CWops’ already noteworthy CW 
mentoring efforts by launching a program expressly for young people 
between the ages of 11 and 19.

*The Plan*

**In the short term, Youth CW Academy will borrow from our very 
successful CW Academy Level 1 program and offer a Level 1 for kids. The 
syllabus will be essentially the same but the makeup of the groups will 
be different. Here, in addition to grouping by time zone the students 
will also be grouped by age zones. There will be three such zones: 
11-13, 14-16, 17-19. Ideally, no student will be in a group with someone 
more than two years younger or older. From the beginning, they will be 
encouraged to work in teams. The goal will be to impart CW skills and 
build groups of young ham friends. The pilot programs will be exclusive 
to already-licensed applicants – especially no-code technician 
licensees. Later manifestations will be also include unlicensed 
applicants who will learn CW skills and license-test knowledge, 
simultaneously.

For the first pilot program – Jan-Feb 2018 – we will try to establish up 
to five groups of five students, 25 students in total. There will be 
enough advisors, for now, to handle that many groups. We will repeat the 
pilot program, again, in April and May 2018. Then, over the summer, we 
will roll out (hopefully) a full-blown program that includes both 
licensed and unlicensed applicants. In addition, the full-blown program 
will include an equipment loaner program so that graduates will be able 
to get on the air right after graduating. For students who already have 
equipment, we will just mentor them to get them up to speed. For those 
who cannot afford equipment, we will offer a loaner program that 
includes donated HF radios and club-provided portable HF antennas.

*Moving Forward*

We will begin accepting applicants from 15 November through 15 December. 
The application should be emailed during that period. Applications 
should be emailed to: k6rb58 at gmail.com <mailto:k6rb58 at gmail.com> and the 
header /*Youth CWA*/should be used for easy spotting. The information 
should include the following:

  *

    First and last name

  *

    Callsign and license type (e.g. tech, general, extra)

  *

    Age

  *

    Time zone (EST, CST, MST or PST)

  *

    Email address

  *

    Telephone number

For now, applicants will be restricted to North America (US/Canada). 
When we begin adding license-test preparation, non-licensed applicants 
will be restricted to US applicants while we expand the test-preparation 
program.

*How You Can Help*

If you know some young licensees between the ages of 11 and 19, let them 
know about the Youth CWA program, and encourage them to apply. If you 
are interested in advising a YCWA group, let me know (k6rb58 at gmail.com 
<mailto:k6rb58 at gmail.com>). If you are interested in mentoring graduates 
to help them get up to speed on the air (helping to set up stations and 
antennas), let me know that, too.

We hope to begin a loaner program by Sep-Oct 2018. Toward that end, 
anyone who has a working HF rig capable of CW operation, preferably 100 
watts power, please let me know that, too. I am planning to establish a 
non-profit entity for rig donations that will allow for a modest tax 
write-off for your donated gear.

Please email me with any questions you may have about the pilot program.