A chance to catch up with the early members of the BARC Junior radio club, which has introduced Boulder, Colorado youths to Amateur Radio for 11 years

Ellie Van Winkle, N0QCX (left), gets a hug from Nathan Wang, KB0UQS, at the 2002 BARC Junior Field Day Dinner. Wang credits BARC Junior--and Rip and Ellie--with pointing him toward a field in computer science.

When Howard "Rip" Van Winkle and his wife, Ellie--NV0M and N0QCX, respectively--took on the job 11 years ago, they had no idea where it would lead. In 1992 they started an organization now known as BARC Junior, an auxiliary of the Boulder Amateur Radio Club in Colorado, and began working with area youth. The purpose was simple: teach kids about ham radio. It's led the Van Winkles to change more than a few lives for the better and has endeared them to a generation of young people. I've been associated with the Van Winkles for many years and thought that this might be a good time to measure their impact by seeing where the kids are today.

A BARC Backgrounder

Rip and Ellie started a ham radio class in 1992 at Louisville Middle School, near their home in Boulder. The class was a success and several youngsters got their first Amateur Radio licenses.

Ellie, however, is not one to teach a class and then walk away. She kept in touch with these youths. She encouraged them. Youngsters like Eric Permut, now KG0YS, and Seth Wilson, now N0URQ, would call Ellie on the repeater to report each new HF Morse contact they made. Ellie would look up the QSL information and relay it back to them. Listening to these conversations between these excited young hams and their Elmer was my introduction to the marvelous, energetic Ellie.

Saturday afternoons often found these young hams in Rip's basement. Rip has a basement that looks a bit like Mission Control in Houston, although rather more untidy. He mentored the kids through the vagaries of propagation, putting antennas together, how to conduct a QSO, how to QSL and he answered all the questions that young hams have.

Walt Schlender, now KC0BPC, sat down in 1997 at a BARC Junior meeting to study for his first Amateur Radio license exam.

Considering that word of mouth is at least as effective a communication medium as ham radio, soon other young people started to come along on Saturday afternoons. Ellie, never one to miss a chance to educate youngsters, thought there ought to be more organization. As a retired kindergarten teacher, she knew that any successful youth organization needs several things, including a clear purpose, a fun program and lots of help from interested adults.

Thinking back, Ellie laughed at the memory. "I knew Rip and I couldn't handle dozens of young folk all by ourselves. We got help!" she said. "We badgered, cajoled, asked, and just plain begged." She and Rip worked the phone and the repeater, and before long Elmers began to join the kids on Saturday afternoons. The Van Winkles sought and obtain formal sponsorship from the Boulder Amateur Radio Club, and BARC Junior was born. I became a BARC Junior Elmer not long after that.

What I found was an amazing program. Ellie is quite the schoolmarm and she knows how to keep a gaggle of excited young people going in the same general direction. "I have a loud voice and I use it!" she stated. At first I saw barely controlled chaos, but soon I found out that it was a well-organized program. Every child proceeded at his own pace. There were several classes every Saturday, each led by an Elmer. These classes included Novice theory, Technician theory and Morse code. As time went on, classes on General, Advanced and Extra theory were added, as well as 13 wpm and 20 wpm code practice. With license restructuring came the restructuring of BARC Junior's offerings. I was so impressed with BARC Junior that I wrote an article about the club that appeared in the September 1997 issue of QST.

But after kids passed their exams, something wonderful happened: they got their licenses and then stayed in the club. They participated as club officers, committee members and, as they got older, became Elmers themselves. BARC Junior conducts a weekly 2 meter net devoted to the youth of the area and the club now runs its own class 4A Field Day operation every year! And they do all this without the aid of a publicity committee.

During the past 11 years, BARC Junior has helped over 140 young people get licensed. Ellie keeps track of them and many are now Extras.

Six for the Future

Where are these kids now? Has BARC Junior succeeded in its mission to help young people discover the fun of ham radio? Has it also helped them enjoy the fraternity? Have the BARC Juniors found it fun to associate with other young people who have similar interests? Did BARC Junior make a difference in their lives?

To find out, I asked Ellie to invite all the BARC Junior alumni to the 2002 BARC Junior Field Day dinner. Even though it was the middle of summer, when most college kids are gallivanting around the world, several came to the dinner and I questioned them all. They shared their success stories, their current activities and the difference BARC Junior made. Let me tell you what they told me:

These days, Matt Sturtz, KB0KZR, is currently the Vice President of Operations for a small Internet company. He recently upgraded to a General class ham ticket.

· Matt Sturtz, KB0KZR. Matt was one of the earliest BARC Juniors and is now 24 years old. He first thought Ellie was a crazy old lady with gray hair, an opinion that changed considerably with time. He was attracted by the technology and still is. By mingling with the other kids with similar interests, he said "I found out it was ok to be a geek at age 14." BARC Junior was pretty informal back then, he said, noting that he was once the president of the club. Matt and I had many QSOs when he was a teen and lived in the mountains. His mom and dad are hams also, and I remember chuckling while listening to a QSO between Matt and his parents. It seems he managed to get his truck stuck on a dirt road when he was supposed to be somewhere else. Active on 144 and 440 MHz, Matt is on the tech team for the Colorado Repeater Association. He recently upgraded to General and is looking seriously at getting active in ARES. He's currently the Vice President of Operations for a small Internet company.

· Nathan Wang, KB0UQS. Nathan's introduction to BARC Junior came through his friend, Mike Ballbach, N0ZTQ. Nathan said he particularly enjoyed the people in BARC Junior. "You have to love Ellie," he told me with a wink, and he calls Ellie his "second mom." He said he always had a fear of public speaking, but he was once selected to represent BARC Junior at the Youth Forum at Dayton. He reported that the public speaking training he received from BARC Junior prior to going to Dayton continues to be of real value to him. Nathan is now a senior at the University of Colorado, majoring in computer science with a minor in geology. "I would not have majored in computer science without BARC Junior," Wang said.

BARC Junior alumni Blair and Grant Harness, KB0ROM and KB0ZQX, respectively, take a moment out from dinner at the 2002 BARC Junior Field Day.

· Blair and Grant Harness, KB0ROM and KB0ZQX. Blair and Grant have an uncle who was a ham and Amateur Radio fit their interest. They found BARC Junior when their grandfather read an article about the club in the local newspaper. At that time, BARC Junior participated with BARC Senior for Field Day and the Harness boys came with their mother to check things out. Blair said he was about 12 at the time and he got hooked. In fact, Field Day became his favorite activity. He talked about the event often and gave a presentation about it--complete with slides--at the annual Parents Night meeting. He later gave a similar speech at the Dayton Hamvention Youth Forum as a BARC Junior representative. Blair said he particularly remembers the fun of interacting with other young people. He added that he appreciates what Rip and Ellie do for BARC Junior. "Ellie is very orderly and runs things well," he said. Blair, 21, is now a senior at the University of Colorado, majoring in electrical engineering with a minor in business.

Grant said he remembered that first Field Day quite well because he fell off the teeter-totter. I remember too, as I was there. His mother was concerned about his head; Grant was concerned about missing Field Day. Grant is now a senior in high school and remembers BARC Junior as being "fun because interesting stuff was happening. I learned how to coordinate things by watching Ellie."

· Walt Schlender, KC0BPC. Walt started his BARC Junior experience when he was in the seventh grade. At the Field Day dinner, he told me something I didn't know: he had found out about BARC Junior from me! I was picking up my son from his house and mentioned our involvement in BARC Junior to his mom. Walt's dad had been a ham and now Walt's mom, dad and brother are all hams. Walt was particularly interested in the electronics side of ham radio. He wanted to be able to transmit and perform experiments, and wanted to understand the theory as well as possible. He reports it was good to be around Elmers who were engineers. He said the social side was fun, too, because there were "many one-of-a-kind people," he said, grinning. Walt reported he found the public speaking and leadership training valuable, and he also represented BARC Junior as a delegate to the Youth Forum at the Dayton Hamvention. He remembers the trip to Dayton as one of the best experiences of his life, particularly because he fit right in. "Everyone was carrying radios around! BARC Junior was my life! To imagine my life without BARC Junior is strange. They were extra family to me." Walt loved working with the younger kids and became an Elmer long before graduating from BARC Junior. He said being an Elmer forced him to learn more and also learn how to explain complex ideas more simply. Walt is a sophomore at the University of Washington studying computer engineering. He has a General license and laments that it's tough to find people at college like the friends he made at BARC Junior.

Zack Allen, KB0LEX, is a senior at the University of Colorado, majoring in electrical engineering. He said he would not be in engineering school without BARC Junior as a foundation. [Photos by the author]

· Zack Allen, KB0LEX. Zack joined BARC Junior when he was 13. A long time friend, Eric Permut, KG0YS, introduced him to the club. Zack said it was his mom who "psyched him into it" because it would appeal to his scientific interests. Zack was particularly impressed by the demonstrations Rip provided every week. And, when Eric got his HF radio, Zack loved to listen to people from around the world. Zack practiced Morse with Seth Wilson on the school bus. Zack would sit for hours with Rip, putting projects together in Van Winkle's basement. He remembers that Rip and Ellie were always supportive. He recalled that Ellie always wanted a hug, genuinely cared about the kids and wanted him to succeed. He's glad now that she was "a bit pushy," because he thinks that's what made the difference for him. Zack is a senior at the University of Colorado, majoring in electrical engineering. "I don't think I would be in engineering school today without BARC Junior," he said. "Kids need guidance and it's great to have all those engineers around." Zack still keeps in touch with the other kids who were in the program when he was.

There's more to Zack's story. Zack and some fellow students at Colorado put together a satellite called the Citizen Explorer I. It will collect ozone data and downlink it to schools around the world. Plus, it will introduce all the participating schools to ham radio, since the downlink frequencies are in the ham bands. Full Story

Conclusions

Is it worth taking the time to train youngsters in the art and fellowship we call ham radio? You bet! Why not find a club in your area willing to sponsor a youth auxiliary? Clearly, a group like BARC Junior pays off by fostering a youthful crop of interested, excited and knowledgeable radio amateurs. Giving your time and talent to kids is a great way to give back to the hobby that we all love. While my own duties with BARC Junior have been reduced of late because of kids in college and a busy job, I still lead the committee that selects the kids who will go to Dayton every year, and I'm an enthusiastic Volunteer Examiner, serving the kids and others. And I know you'll find me at the BARC Junior Field Day site every year--especially at dinnertime--renewing old acquaintances and making new ones.

Dave Casler, KE0OG, has been a ham for over 25 years. An Elmer with BARC Junior for several years, Casler wrote about BARC Junior in the September 1997 issue of QST. He enjoys HF PSK-31, CW and SSB, and dabbles in every new mode available, especially if soundcard software is available. He runs his ham station using solar (photovoltaic) power. You can see his article on solar power for ham radio in the April 1996 issue of QST. Casler is also the author of The Fox Hunt Adventure, a ham radio adventure novel. He is an engineer for a large computer company. Casler's e-mail address is ke0og@arrl.net.

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