DeGolyer Elementary School (K5DES) in Dallas, had a display at Ham-Com 2004 to pitch their program. "The girls were attracted to the booth because of the Morse code display," says ARRL Education and Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME. "As I have found everywhere, Morse Code is a hook that gets kids to look at the other things going on at the booth. It gets them every time."

Reed Clayton, W4HRC, and students at Rogers Creek Elementary School in Athens, Tennessee. The Education and Technology Program school received its ham radio gear in March, and Spencer spoke with the school's KC4RCS from W1AW.

The almost-no-solder electronic organ project.

The TV remote control decoder project has proved popular to youngsters.

ARRL Education and Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME (left), teaching the five building blocks of wireless technology at the Howell Cheney Regional Vocational-Technical School in Manchester, Connecticut. Spencer says Cheney joined the ranks of program schools earlier this year after applying for the activity board and TV remote decoder kits. One student already is licensed, and a ham radio club is in the works.

ARRL Seeks Funds to Support New Education and Technology Program Initiatives

NEWINGTON, CT, Jun 30, 2004--The ARRL is seeking donations to equip ARRL Education and Technology Program (ETP) teachers to more effectively instruct students in wireless technology and to furnish them with activity kits that convey basic concepts. Instituted in 2001 as "The Big Project," the ETP now boasts nearly 100 participating schools, thanks to the generous support of ARRL members. In his travels around the US meeting with educators, Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, has learned that Amateur Radio as a catalyst for teaching wireless technology works best in an after-school setting. He's also has discovered that many teachers have been trained to teach science but not wireless technology.

In an appeal earlier this month, ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, explained that a lot of science teachers "are excited about what students can learn from Amateur Radio, but they are intimidated by this new world of wireless electronics. They want to learn how to teach wireless communications."

ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, puts it another way. "For some schools, it's a giant leap to go from zero to ham radio station," she said.

The League has a two-pronged strategy to address the challenge. The first is to debut a pilot ARRL Teachers Institute program in August. The week-long seminar will immerse teachers in a curriculum that will have them studying electronics, learning the basics of Amateur Radio and building projects. While generous donations have provided some funding for this initiative, Hobart says the program still needs additional money to make the Teachers Institute a reality. She hopes the ETP can find sufficient funding to keep the institute and the program itself operating through 2005, "so the progress to date doesn't go to waste."

The second part of the plan is to provide participating teachers and schools with simple electronic activity kits that will give students hands-on experience as a stepping stone to deeper involvement in Amateur Radio and wireless technology. Each electronic project kit averages $350, and more than 60 of them have gone out to 30 teachers and schools. Up until now, their cost subsidized by donations from the Newington Amateur Radio League, the ARRL Foundation and individual donors.

"We're making progress," Hobart says. "We're touching thousands of kids." The project kits, she adds, have captured the imaginations of the students and teachers alike.

As the League's letter to prospective donors points out, the ETP is reaching more than 3600 students this year, exposing them to a total of some 184,000 hours of involvement in "wireless technology literacy".

"Next to defending our spectrum, inspiring young people is supremely important to the future of Amateur Radio," Hobart declared.

Contributions can be made via the ARRL's secure donation Web site. For more information, contact Mary Hobart, K1MMH, 860-594-0397.

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