Canisteo-Greenwood Central School in Canisteo, NY is again offering Ham Radio and Digital Communication this fall, with students studying for their technician exam while also working on basic radio and electronic competencies through hands-on projects.  Students range from 9-12th grade and are pursuing a variety of different educational outcomes.  The instructor, Chris Romanchock (KD2PFE) is an Extra class operator and a history teacher at the school.  Chris is particularly interested EmComm and portable operation and would like to encourage the kids to contribute to that aspect of the hobby: “Canisteo has flooded three times in the past few years, and each time parts of the town are cut off.  I would love to create a group of citizens in town who are ready and prepared with some resilient communication modes.”

The class is designed to both help students gain the knowledge needed to pass the license test, AND learn what all that means so they can begin to apply it immediately.  The school’s program is a wide-ranging effort supported by multiple partners in the hobby.  To that end the class has a 20w repeated donated by Dave Pitrie (WA2KC) that is linked into the Alfred, Wellsville and Ulyssess, PA repeater network and thus Echolink and Allstar via the KD2PFE 444.8 repeater on Moland Hill in Alfred.  Both the Keuka Lake Amateur Radio Association (KLARA) and members thereof have made donations of equipment and books and ARRL has generously provided a Yaesu 991 for the class and cabling and antennas, and students regularly make contacts using the school’s callsign KE2EVA.  A group of students worked with the Long Island CW club via zoom to learn Morse code, and are looking to start up again once an instructor is found.

The class has several field trips coming up—they will visit the Antique Wireless Association in November and will activate the W2PE station on the USS Little Rock anchored in the Buffalo Harbor in October with members of the Radio Amateurs of Western New York (RAWNY).  Students have participated in foxhunts, soldered radio kits and have planned to attempt a satellite contact and do a POTA activation before the class ends in January.