OPEN "Thank You" LETTER From Daniel Stevens [
KL7WM]:
Here
is the article from Radio Waves newsletter.
The
2013 year has been an UNUSUAL year for the Federal Way Amateur Radio Club’s Training and Licensing program. We did 6 or 7 things
different. The first was to advertise our classes on the ARRL "Find a
Class" and "Find an Exam" web pages. Next was the appointment of an Assistant
Training Coordinator, LW Abel, K7LWA. Another assistant coordinator came
on board in Ballard to help organize those classes, Mike Walsh, W7BMW. Our
VE program found several others who also joined our teaching team, Dustin Lomax,
KF7FK, Michael Hall, KJ7WC, and Howard Schultz, KB7SWA. Several organizations
partnered together with us to hold classes: the City of Auburn department of
Emergency Management, the Auburn Valley Repeater Group, the Edmonds Open Bible
Church, the Maplewood Rock and Gem Club, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, the Multi
Service Center, the Philadelphia Church Center, the Royal Rangers, and the City
of Tukwila Department of Emergency Management. We are building a great team that
works and teaches together.
The
teachers and VEs TALKED together to help make a better program. This
sharing of ideas and working together makes us a team. Many of our new
teachers came from our licensing classes and VE system. Some came from
the 9 O’clock social net on the Puget Sound Repeater Group (PSRG)’s repeater and through LW's efforts to promote our
classes. The net has met at 9 O’clock AM and PM 7/365 for years in the
Seattle area. We found people who were willing to help. I believe you find
talent and help anywhere. Most of our team have their Extra licenses, but
not all. You don't have to be the best, just willing to help. A
leader has to be willing to accept help and share the
opportunities.
We
are finding enough HELP to have teachers and VEs in the north end
and others in the south end of the Seattle/Federal Way/King County
area. Some participate in both areas. Please note we have taught classes
from as large as 28 to as small as a class of one. If someone wants a
license our team goes out of their way to help them get licensed. Our team was
able to help two British amateur get their US licenses while they were in the US
for a week of work. They come each year. There were 6 teachers and 23 VEs in the
program in 2013.
We
have taught Large and Small classes. Several "one on one" meetings also
happened. An example is when Daniel Stevens KL7WM did "one on one"
tutoring with Tom Taylor, KG7CFC, in 2013 to help Tom get
licensed. Tom uses a wheelchair and couldn't get to a regularly
scheduled class. Later in 2013, Tom upgraded to General. He has helped on
the course in several ham nets at 5K runs in Federal Way in 2013 and is a
regular on local nets like the 9 O’clock social net on Puget Sound Repeater Group (PSRG)’s repeater. There was a class where one student showed up. We taught
the class with one student and he passed the Technician and the General test. He
was happy, because he was a boater and wanted a General license for the HF
privileges. Several New hams operated in the Seattle Marathon less than a week
after they got their licenses from our class. Several parents and a grandparent
brought their children to the classes. Most times both the parent and the
child passed a test.
There
is a Follow Up program to get the new licensees on the air and on the
nets. The Technician Class has a 20 to 30 minute social net demonstration to
explain repeaters and allow the students to hear good operating practices. This
eases the Push-To-Talk button nervousness. The net controllers listen
for and welcome the New operators. There have been Antenna Parties for hands on
advance learning. The team's goal is to make operators and not just licensees.
The team also follows up with those who fail to get their license at their
first exam session. We try to get them into another FREE class, give them
special tutoring and helps, and to keep in contact with them, until
they get their licenses. This follow up program has been VERY
successful.
Pictured
in the article are Dustin, KF7FK and Michael KJ7WC with a 3-element Arrow yagi.
The
Number of Students was because of the marketing ideas from Mike, W7BMW.
Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO and the Mike and Key ARC announced our classes on their
web sites. Our training philosophy is to have an exam at the end of each class.
The VEs have two sets of graders facing the examinees for faster processing at
the larger sessions. At one session the VEs graded 65 elements.
The Value of the classes was because we were will to listen and to
change and we were worked together. The Quality of the amateurs
graduating is shown by the test results. There have been students traveling 60
and 90 miles one way to our classes. Others have been referred to our classes
from as far away as Alaska. The average test scores kept getting higher
throughout the year.
The
2013 Success was a team effort from all of you: 6 teachers and
23 VEs. Many students wanted to “give back” into the hobby so they became VEs
and teachers. The numbers speak the loudest about our team: 169 New
Hams, 204 licensed and/or upgraded out of 224 examinees with 90 to 95% pass
rates. You are our SUPERBOWL Amateur Training and
Licensing team.
A BIG
THANK YOU goes to all who participated in the Federal Way ARC Training and
VE program in 2013. I speak for the students and the examinees also. There
have been many "Thank You" emails. It would not have happened without
you!
Daniel
Stevens, KL7WM
Training
Coordinator
ARRL
Liaison VE
The organizing meeting of The Juliets
