About the Scouts & Schools Program

An Educational Outreach of AARC

by James Alderman, KF5WT

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What is Scouts & Schools?

It's our commitment to the students, teachers, and Scouts of our community. Essentially, we won't wait around for them to come ask us about Amateur Radio. We will take our message to them directly.

At the annual meeting in April of 2003, the club established the Scouts & Schools committee to implement club's vision. The committee members are:

• James Alderman, KF5WT
• Therese Galloway, KD5LZM
• Mike Gholson, WA5MAC
• David Robinson, KD5SCK

Scouts & Schools is a work in progress. These are our goals:

Scouting Goals

Scouting and Amateur Radio have much in common. Both fraternities emphasize preparedness and self-reliance. We aim to give Scouts an important skill which they can use to save lives-the ability to communicate during an emergency when nobody else can. Here's how we aim to do it.

Teach the Radio and Electronics Merit Badges.

The best way to impart our radio knowledge to Scouts is by teaching the Radio Merit Badge class. This hands-on class covers the basics of radio and can be taught in a single day. We taught our first Radio Merit Badge class in the fall of 2001.

Presently we are working to combine the Radio and Electronics Merit Badges into a single class which can be taught in a single Saturday-sort of like a "two for one" deal. Since no instructor support material is available from BSA, we are having to create this material from scratch.

Ideally we'd like to teach at least one Radio-Electronics class per year during a week-long summer camp session. Most of these students would be out-of-towners. If we make a good go of it, there will be demand for more classes in the future. Hopefully Scouts will go back home and tell their friends, "When you go to Camp Cherokee, you have got to take Radio-Electronics."

We would also teach a single Saturday-only class specifically for Scouts in our local area. This plan amounts to two classes per year initially.

Build Miniature UHF Repeater For the Scout Camp.

This small repeater would be used for teaching purposes during Radio-Electronics classes, and serve as an additional courtesy and convenience for the thousands of Scouts and Scouters who attend the camp each year. This repeater would be great PR for Amateur Radio.

Most Scouts use common FRS talkies for communications while on outings now. These consumer-grade radios only put out a half watt into a quarter wave duck. Camp-wide communications is not possible. Perhaps some Scouts and Scouters would be encouraged to move on up to ham radio if they could see how useful, convenient, and potentially lifesaving it is.

The highest location in the camp-and the most logical place for the repeater-is the pump station. Electricity is available, and the two large water tanks have metal ladders onto which separate transmit and receive antennas can be clamped. (The use of separate antennas would eliminate the need for a costly duplexer.)

Topographical analysis of the site indicates that one-watt HT coverage should be solid out to a distance of 3 miles to the west, and anywhere from 5 to 10 miles in all other directions, depending on terrain. Certainly talkies on low power would have an easy time within the camp.

Surplus parts are already being acquired for this project.

Provide SKYWARN Protection For The Camp.

Thousands of people come through the camp each year, many of them during the spring and summer seasons when severe weather is a concern.

We plan to set up a SKYWARN station at the Headquarters building, which would be similar to the one at the fire station. There would be a radio with an outside antenna, and a dry erase map for plotting reports. The radio mic would be stored in a locked box when no control operator is present.

The Headquarters building is the perfect location for a SKYWARN station because the First Aid station is there, and it's manned continuously. Severe weather information would be passed directly to camp staff.

Presently, we are trying to recruit come local Scouts who would get licensed and serve as volunteer SKYWARN liaisons to the camp. It's hoped that some staffers would become licensed also.

Get Ourselves "Certified."

For the protection of all participants, BSA requires volunteers to pass a background check. Those of us who will be working directly with boys will need to sign up as "Radio Merit Badge Counselors" or "volunteers", and receive Youth Protection training.

The process involves submitting a one-page application which is sent to the Circle 10 headquarters in Dallas for processing. There is no cost involved, and the approval process usually takes about two weeks. We will be getting information to interested parties soon.

The Youth Protection instruction is available through an on-line course, and takes about an hour to complete. The training covers subjects like how to spot abuse if it happens, and how to practice basic safety protections to insure that false accusations can't be brought against a volunteer.

Make Ourselves Visible.

Another thing which BSA officials are requesting of us is that we have some kind of distinctive shirt, vest, or armband which will immediately identify us as ham radio operators who are there to assist during severe weather or to teach classes. This will make it easier for camp officials to locate us if our services are needed during an emergency.

And although it's not required, some magnetic SKYWARN door signs for our vehicles would be good as well. Good visibility the key to good PR.

One option is a set of magnetic SKYWARN signs for our vehicles. A set of two 8 1/2 x 11 signs are available for $30 from www.skywarnsupply.com which is a company run by a ham in Garland. This option is admittedly a bit pricey.

As another option, a laminated paper sign could printed off and placed on the car's dash. The web site also sells patches for $4 each, and T-shirts for $15 each.

School Goals

Get Cayuga High School Signed Up With "Big Project" Program.

Physics teacher Lynn Wicker (AD5LS) has an Extra class ham license and is striving to incorporate the concepts of Amateur Radio into her classes. Trouble is, her classroom has no ham gear or books.

The ARRL's Big Project aims to place turnkey Amateur Radio programs in every school in America. A Big Project grant package includes radios, antennas, feed lines, textbooks, lab manuals, and teacher support materials. It costs the League $2000 to fund one school. Schools are brought into the program as funds allow.

Applying for a Big Project grant requires submitting a lengthy application. The teacher is asked to describe in detail how Amateur Radio will be used to enhance education. We'll be working with Lynn to get this application package in order.

Conduct Amateur Radio Demonstrations In Classrooms.

We would like to do at lease two of these per year. We have gotten the process down to an art already.

The purpose of a classroom demo is twofold. First, we want to inform the teachers and administrators about how an Amateur Radio program can enhance their existing math, science, social studies, and life skills programs-and especially how ham radio can improve test scores by stimulating interest in those subjects.

Second, we want to educate students about the advantages of having ham radio as a hobby. It's fun. It provides a means of emergency communications for the family when other systems go down. Ham radio can even lay the groundwork for a good career in high tech industries.

Those are the selling points we'll emphasize when we do classroom demonstrations.

To conduct successful demonstrations on a regular basis, we'll need to fine tune our presentation to utilize more gadgets and props. We already have a couple of portable antennas and banners. It's a good start. We'll make it better. I want us to be among the most sought-after guest speakers that teachers can have in their classrooms.

Funding Goals

Grant Money. To pay for this program, grant money or other funding sources will be pursued. A cost breakdown is being formulated now, and funding will first be sought through the Wal-Mart foundation.