Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, writes on the ARRL Members Only mailing list:
While on tour visiting 11 Field Day sites in MA and CT, and last weekend in Maine at Lobstercon (this means you Dennis, K1LGQ – the last president of the Nashua Amateur Radio Club), I heard from several people that the ARRL should do things to encourage youth interest in ham radio.
The question tells me that ARRL has not done a good job at communicating some of the things ARRL does NOW. For example, ARRL’s Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology is being offered this week, the week of July 12, 2021. It is a combination of live and recorded sessions, providing instructions for schoolteachers on a variety of activities related to wireless technology and amateur radio. These activities provide practical lessons that teachers can use in their classrooms. There are 18 scheduled sessions. See http://www.arrl.org/files/file/Teachers%20Institute/TI_2021_Program_v2.pdf.
Cost: Teachers Institute opportunities are virtually free for the participants. The grant to attend a TI covers transportation, hotel, a modest per-diem to cover meals, instructional resources for the electronics, microcontroller, and robotics segments of the course, and a resource library of relevant ARRL publications. There is only a $100 enrollment fee to attend Teachers Institute.
For further information, see http://www.arrl.org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology.
If you know of a licensed teacher in New England who should attend next year’s session, please let me know. I’ll pay that teacher’s enrollment fee.
Furthermore, and reflecting a concern related to me earlier this year by Mitch Stern, W1SJ (VT), this Thursday, the ARRL Board Committee on Administration & Finance will consider a League program to pay first time license fees (when those $35 fees become effective later this year) for those under age 18. The CEO will report to the Board on the financial impact of such a decision. If you have thoughts on this program, please let me know.
——————————————————————–
ARRL New England Division
Director: Fred Hopengarten, K1VR
k1vr@arrl.org
——————————————————————–