Here in Ann Arbor, we have a “progressive” or “alternative” high school. It’s called Community High, but because of its (and Ann Arbor’s, for that matter) hippy-dippy reputation, it’s often affectionately called “Commie High.”
One of our members–Ralph KB8ZOY–has a daughter who is starting there this semester. In the course of getting his daughter enrolled there, he found out about Community High’s Community Resource (CR) Program. Through this program, someone with expertise in an area can develop and teach a course that high school students in Ann Arbor–not just Community High students–can take for credit. According to the CR Program Guide, this allows students to:
- learn things beyond the traditional curriculum,
- learn things in a different way than through traditional courses,
- explore potential career options,
- explore a particular interest, and
- perform a community service.
Well, if you ask me, a course in amateur radio qualifies on all these counts.
The trick, now, is to structure the course to meet the requirements of the program. For example, our Technician Class course consists of two hours of instruction one night a week for eight weeks. A CR course, on the other hand, must include at least 45 hours of activities. So, now our task is to embellish the basic Technician Class license course so that we can show them that we have planned for at least 45 hours of activities over an 18-week semester.
I don’t think that this is as difficult as it may seem at first sight. Some of the ideas I’ve come up with include:
- at least eight hours of “lab” time, during which students will perform experiments demonstrating the electrical and electronic principles taught in the class,
- building a small radio or antenna as a class project, or
- performing x number of hours of community service by operating public service events or volunteering at the Red Cross.
The point of all this is that if our school system is offering something like this, perhaps yours is too. I believe we are going to plow ahead with this, and when we get our course plan completed, we’ll make it available to any and all that want to use it. Please if you do want it, and I’ll put you on my mailling list.
As I remember, those 45 hours include out-of-class work. Time spent developing programing, doing homework, etc. count.
Have you mentioned your course to the CR department? I can throw a flyer on the Wall ‘o CRs if you’ve got one.
Hi, Matt–
Thanks for your comments. Yes, we’ve been in touch with the CR department and have all the materials. We’re working on a way to get the course up to 45 hours right now, and will be including out-of-class work, such as performing some public service once you’ve been licensed or building a radio or antenna. We’re hoping to get our proposal approved before the end of the year, so that the course can be offered in the second semester.
In the meantime, please feel free to talk it up. I think this could be a very cool thing for both the students at Community High and our amateur radio club.
I had a similar program when I was the Commanding Officer for Canadian Army Cadet Corps. It was immediately accepted as I had all the documentation of the four year training plan.
The cadets got credit for their training and a lot of good reviews within the school.
Infact I think the program is still running 15 years later.