Moorpark High School Principal Kirk Miyashiro, left, helps Tom Baker, a math and science teacher, assemble a ham radio antenna. The equipment will be used for a new RADIO class

Californian high school embraces ham radio e-comms

Amateur radio and the training of operators have become an essential part of a new and revolutionary school program with wide ranging community benefits in Moorpark, California.

It's simply called RADIO. And it's an acronym that stands for Radio Amateurs and DIsaster Operations.

It's the brainchild of Thomas Baker NC6B, the adviser to the Moorpark High School Amateur Radio Club W6MHS in Ventura County.

Baker, who teaches math and meteorology, conceived the idea for a class last fall after watching on local TV the response of state and local governments to the devastating hurricanes Rita and Katrina that hit the southeastern United States.

Its primary goal: Teaching students about disaster preparedness and getting them involved. After getting the okay from his school principal to begin developing a
curriculum, Baker consulted a variety of sources, including the American Radio Relay League and his community's mayor, to come up with the parameters for the groundbreaking course. Baker also gleaned ideas from the
government's February report on the federal response to the Katrina disaster and incorporated some of the recommendations into the class goals.

RADIO was offered as an elective to students in the ninth through 12th grades signing up a few weeks ago for classes starting this fall. Sixty students stepped up, quickly filling two classes and there is now talk of creating a third.

The year-long class - meeting one hour a day, five days a week - will give students an opportunity to earn an amateur radio license, first aid and CPR certifications through the American Red Cross, search and rescue training, and a host of disaster-preparedness skills.

Baker's goal is to have the graduates become involved with the National Incident Management System and Incident Command System, as well as local emergency agencies.

Baker, and partner Guy Arnoff, a history teacher at the high school, will bring in various officials from emergency agencies in Ventura County to help provide the training for the classes. Those agencies also will assist in certifying the students in various levels of emergency preparedness.

Through the course, Baker hopes to give some of the students a chance to shadow emergency professionals as they do their jobs and open up volunteer opportunities to the students in a variety of organizations and agencies.

Mark Abramowicz, NT3V
Amateur Radio Newsline

More about this exciting new program can be found at
www.venturacountystar.com/vcs/mo/article/
0,1375,VCS_167_4632804,00.html

Source: CGC, ARNewsline

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