Keyed up: Wasilla High School students take to the air waves with amateur radio

WASILLA -- In today's technological world, the entire world is a chatroom, with people in Japan just as accessible as your next-door neighbor. But computers aren't the only media making the world one giant neighborhood, as some Wasilla High School students are finding out.

Amateur radio has been around since the turn of the century. Long before the Internet and e-mail, amateur radio operators were conversing with each other. Students at Wasilla High School are now getting that opportunity as well, as the school has become the first in Alaska to have a ham radio.

Several years ago, WHS secured a grant from the Amateur Radio Relay League to set up a tower and get the school on the air. The grant is "The Big Project" and WHS was one of the first 10 schools selected for the program. Since then, 30 other schools have been selected, but none from Alaska.

"Hopefully, as we get things set up here, we can have our students talking to some of those other schools," said science teacher Mike Lutes. "We're hoping we can get a ham radio club up and running by next year."

Six Wasilla High School students have already earned their operators' licenses by passing a test that requires weeks of studying. Christi Gibson (KL1MM), Trevor Thomas (KL1MH), Jeremiah Stewart (KL1MR), Zack Wieliczkiewicz (KL1MT), Gabe Sharrow (KL1MU) and Brian Wilson (KL1MN) worked with Lutes for several hours after school for nearly six weeks studying for the exam.

"We covered part of the exam in regular science classes, like electrical and radio technologies, but the rest of the exam the students did on their own, after school," Lutes said.

While the grant and a donation (see related story) got the equipment to the high school, getting the system up and running -- and getting the students enthused about amateur radio -- fell into the laps of members of the Matanuska Amateur Radio Association, a 100-member group that meets the last Friday of every month. It was a job they accepted willingly.

"Amateur radio is a perfect complement to high school students' education," said Len Betts, a member of the organization. "It covers physics, electronics, calculus -- nearly every subject. It enhances the high school experience for these students."

Other club members said opening up communication opportunities around the world is an opportunity most high schoolers don't get.

"When they have their license and are ready, they're going to be able to converse with people all around the globe," said Tim Comfort. "Amateur radio shrinks the world down. They'll learn new cultures, geography and even language."

Club members spent weeks installing the large radio towers atop the school, and lending their expertise to setting up the ham radio room. Last week, club members Betts, Comfort, David Wilke, Rod Reese and Charlie Elliott were there to get the students on the air and talking.

"Our local club has done so much to help this get going," Lutes, an amateur radio operator himself, said. "They've been up on the roof for hours every day."

There are thousands of uses for amateur radio -- from pleasure to emergency and disaster communications when other lines of communication aren't possible.

Local club members have areas of interest that range from tiny, "Pack it" radios to "fast scan amateur television," in which pictures equivalent to those from a VCR can be transmitted over radio waves. Opening up a whole new world of communication to the computer generation is part of the "The Big Project."

"When nothing works, try amateur radio," Comfort said. "We'll still be up and running when the Internet slows down to a crawl."