You have the opportunity to join thousands of other school teachers around the world who use Amateur (Ham) Radio in their schools!
If you are already a ham, you probably have first-hand experience using Amateur Radio. You might enjoy communicating by voice, computer (packet radio) or Morse code; relaying your signals through satellites; or just communicating for the fun of it. Now we invite you to bring these experiences into your classroom.
People of all ages from 6 to 96, from all walks of life from all over the world are ham radio operators. Hams' adventures include such things as handling emergency communications, bouncing signals off meteors or the moon, even talking to astronaut-hams while they circle the Earth in the shuttle. The majority of hams, however, communicate just for the fun of it.
School teachers are using Amateur Radio in many different subject areas throughout their curriculums. The following is just a small cross-section:
Bloomfield Schools, Bloomfield MO. Teacher Sheila Perry, call sign NØUOP, uses Amateur Radio and space science to excite students learning. In 1993, her students used ham radio to communicate with astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia. Her program is so successful that she won a $100,000 grant from the state of Missouri to continue and enhance her curriculum.
Bethel Middle School, Bethel CT. Technology teacher Pete Kemp, KZ1Z, and his students use computers and Amateur Radio to communicate electronically with other schools. The system is called "packet" radio. His students use packet to send messages and exchange data for scientific interpretation, and conduct surveys "such as political straw polls, musical groups, or other student-oriented issues." And because packet radio is wireless, there are no telephone charges to pay.
Intermediate School 72, Staten Island NY. Teacher Carole Perry, WB2MGP, teaches her own curricula called "Introduction to Amateur Radio". Multiple subject areas are combined into the course, including geography and history, science, math and language arts. Through Amateur Radio, her students communicate with people all over the world, they learn the basics about electronics, calculate distances and time zones, and much more.
Chaminade College Preparatory, West Hills CA. Students in Dave Reeves', KF6PJ, earth science and physics classes learn about orbiting satellites and telemetry by using Amateur Radio micro-satellites. Some of his students work toward earning their own Amateur Radio licenses.
You may choose to use Amateur Radio as a motivational tool, allowing students the use of radio equipment and computers after completing certain lessons and assignments. Some teachers choose to use Amateur Radio as a course dependent medium, designing their lesson plans around ham radio. Some schools offer Amateur Radio as a course, while others offer it as an extracurricular activity (a school radio club!).
Would you and your students want to be a part of all of this excitement? Contact ARRL, the national headquarters for Amateur Radio operators, for information on license manuals and instructor's guides. The ARRL sponsors educational workshops and youth forums throughout the year. They publish a free newsletter, "Amateur Radio in the Classroom" and sponsor popular student projects such as the Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX). Please telephone, write or email ARRL F&ES with whatever questions you still have about getting started. We would like to help YOU bring Amateur Radio into your classroom.