[Troop139] FW: The Hudson Division Proposes a New Pilot Program to Increase Youth Involvment in Amateur Radio

[J. Gordon Beattie, Jr.]

Hi Folks!
There is going to be a pilot program for middle school students here in Northern New Jersey or nearby southern New York that is focused on getting young people interested in Amateur Radio by creating an model for a 21st century Amateur Radio Club.  Please circulate this around to friends who might have a school contact where there is a faculty member who is a licensed Amateur Radio operator because that is the key prerequisite.  You may not be aware of whether a faculty member holds an Amateur Radio License, so circulate this around to your school contacts and don't be afraid to ASK and be PERSISTENT!  :-)
  
73,
Gordon Beattie, W2TTT
201.314.6964

-----Original Message-----
From: ARRL Members Only Web site [mailto:memberlist at www.arrl.org] 
Sent: Saturday, January 2, 2016 8:46 AM
To: w2ttt at att.net
Subject: [Bulk] The Hudson Division Proposes a New Pilot Program to Increase Youth Involvment in Amateur Radio

Hello --

If you currently teach middle school, THIS IS FOR YOU!

In my travels throughout the Hudson Division, I am constantly asked “what can be done to bring young people into Amateur Radio?”  As you know, years ago middle (junior) and high schools were rife with
Amateur Radio clubs.  Sadly, that is no longer the case.   

Many of us were influenced in our youth by Amateur Radio and chose careers in related fields.  Through our experience with Amateur Radio, we learned how to communicate with others as we developed broader interpersonal skills and a larger view of the world.  Recent efforts to
engage the youth audience have had only limited success.   Adding insult
to injury, funding for training and sustaining such a club operation is at the very bottom of most school priority lists. 

I know that some of our Division club members, who are not pedagogues, have approached their local schools with a sincere offer to volunteer their time to come in to these schools and teach students, enabling them to get their licenses.  Unfortunately, that is virtually impossible in today’s environment given needs for tighter security, liability and safety issues, and the need to have complete integration to the specific STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) educational curriculum which is very demanding and leaves little to no room to include Amateur Radio in most school programs.

SO, WHAT DO WE DO NOW??

I’m proposing that we start a pilot program in the Hudson Division that will encourage hands-on learning in an informal club environment that provides an enrichment opportunity for students while also providing the kind of instruction that they would have received in a more formal classroom setting. 

I am looking to recruit a working faculty member of a middle school who is also a licensed Amateur.  This teacher would start an Amateur Radio club in his/her school.  As it is imperative that the kids who participate in the club have the ability to have “hands-on”
experience, the club would be provided with the resources necessary to make this a success.  

Our teacher would be provided materials, a funding commitment from ARRL to acquire startup equipment (through the generosity of a fellow Ham sponsor who has offered to earmark a donation to ARRL for this specific purpose), and instructional help using a mentor. We are thrilled to be able to offer the volunteer services of an active ham who has taught for many years as a middle school science teacher and is now an Adjunct Professor of Education at a local college.  This individual would provide guidance in helping to develop a program for our “club”
teacher.

If you are a current middle school faculty member with your subject area in the STEM disciplines, a licensed Radio Amateur, and would like to be part of this initiative as we establish this pilot program, please contact me.

Tnx es 73 de Mike N2YBB
n2ybb at arrl.org

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ARRL Hudson Division
Director: Mike Lisenco, N2YBB
n2ybb at arrl.org
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