08/09/2024

On August 1, 2024, Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, ARRL Education and Learning Manager,
took a train trip to New York City to visit the Staten Island Technical High
School[1]. He was there to help administer amateur radio exams to 49 students
and all passed their exams. Several upgraded their licenses from General to
Extra class and two students went from unlicensed to Extra class in one
sitting.

Their teacher, Everton Henriques, KD2ZZT, attended ARRL's Teachers Institute on
Wireless Technology[2] TI - 1 last year and TI - 2 this year. Since then,
Everton has helped over 100 kids successfully test for their amateur radio
licenses. He has built a program incorporating HF, local repeater use,
foxhunting, and space communications and has plans to incorporate mesh
networking with his students this coming school year.

On August 6, 2024, Henriques was helping his students build antennas to help
make contact with the International Space Station. They made a 5-element VHF
"bad boy" antenna with a mounting mechanism to rotate and pitch the heading
using 3D-printed materials, PVC, and aluminum rods. They tried using an
IC-2730a VHF/UHF radio on medium power. While that didn't go as well as
planned, they were able to hear a lot of activity on 70 centimeters.

Staten Island Technical High School began as a New York City public high school
in 1988. Its student body is comprised of lifelong learners, innovation
facilitators, contributors to the betterment of society and intellectually
inquisitive young men and women. In September of 2005, the school was granted
the status as New York City's 7th Specialized High School by the New York City
Department of Education. New York City's Specialized High Schools are comprised
of the most academically gifted and talented students.


[1] https://www.siths.org/

[2] http://arrl.org/teachers-institute-on-wireless-technology


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