ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® welcomed the year’s first cohort of educators to attend a session of the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI) at headquarters this week. The group follows on the success of the Louisiana-based session last week, and one on Staten Island in New York City this past in January.

The educators traveled from all over the country to attend and learn how to take radio and wireless technology back into the classroom as part of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lessons. Many of the teachers took and passed their amateur radio license exams during the week, including Professor Charnell Long, Ph.D. She is a professor at North Carolina A&T University who works with pre-service educators to become certified teachers. She hopes to be a multiplying force for the information.

“It was fun to me,” said Long. “It is an opportunity to deep dive into radio in ways I never have before.” She will incorporate the hands-on training into her courses at the university. Long learned about the program when ARRL Education and Learning Manager Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, exhibited TI at the National Science Teachers Association convention.

“I see value in bringing [my students] scientific skills,” said Long. Goodgame is encouraged by the reach just one participant in TI could have. “We’re always excited to get educators hands-on with radio, but especially those who take what they learn here and go back and teach it to other educators,” he said.

Professor Long is one microcosm of ARRL’s focus on multiplying the reach of TI’s impact. The ARRL Board of Directors voted unanimously in July 2024 to authorize taking the high-quality education of TI to communities around the country. Increasing the number of teachers and therefore students reached by the training is one peg in the mission to inspire the next generation of radio amateurs.

While Professor Long and the other newly-minted radio amateurs in the cohort wait for their call signs to be issued, they continue to get hands-on with radio. Thursday’s session was focused on software-defined radios. “To see these educators have fun learning new things is a real boost, not only to the ARRL Education and Learning Department, but the future of ham radio as well,” said Goodgame.