What happens when you give 12 curious kids radios, teach them how antennas work, and then send them hunting for hidden transmitters?
At World Academy’s recent Ham Radio Summer Camp, the answer was five days of hands-on amateur radio, building, experimentation, and plenty of time actually getting on the air.
The goal wasn’t to spend a week talking about ham radio. We wanted the students to experience it.
Campers began the week learning basic radio operation with handheld radios donated by Radioddity. They experimented with line-of-sight communication, participated in scheduled conversations with local amateur radio operators, and quickly discovered one of radio’s most important lessons: where you are and what’s between you and the other station matters.
From there, the students moved into HF operating, calling CQ and experiencing contacts beyond their immediate area. Fox hunting introduced radio direction finding, turning signal propagation into something they could physically chase around the property.
Then they built the equipment they would use themselves.
Each camper constructed a tape-measure Yagi antenna while learning about antenna directionality and basic assembly skills. The following day, those antennas weren’t just projects to take home—they became working tools as teams used them to locate hidden transmitters.
The week concluded at Silver Lake State Park (US-2678) with a Parks on the Air activation. Students got behind the microphone, called “CQ POTA,” and completed approximately 30 contacts between two stations. Some even reached an amateur radio station in Belgium.
For many of the campers, that final activation connected everything they’d experienced during the week: radios, antennas, propagation, operating procedures, experimentation, and communication.
Perhaps the most encouraging result wasn’t the number of contacts.
It was hearing students ask:
“How do I get my license and my own call sign?”
Programs like this demonstrate what’s possible when amateur radio outreach moves beyond demonstrations and gives young people an opportunity to actually operate, build, experiment, and participate.
The camp was made possible through the support of volunteer amateur radio operators, local clubs and repeater owners, GSARA members, Radioddity, ARRL, and everyone who contributed equipment, materials, knowledge, and time.
Read the complete story, see photos from all five days, and learn more about the activities used to introduce these 12 students to amateur radio:
Five Days of Radio, Discovery, and Fun at World Academy Ham Radio Camp
From New England Sci-Tech website:
Bob Beaudet, W1YRC, writes:
