06/14/2016
The ARRL has begun offering a new Girl Scouts "Radio and Wireless
Technology[1]" patch program that offers opportunities for participants to
learn about wireless technology, including Amateur Radio. Scout leaders and
Amateur Radio volunteers associated with the Greater Atlanta Girl Scout
Council, and Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains developed the program
to incorporate information and exploratory activities that provide a backdrop
for understanding radio communication. The program will encourage Girl Scouts
to take on activities in which they will gain knowledge and skills, as well as
kindle an interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)
subjects and careers.
"The initiative for the program came about through my conversations with hams
who wanted to work with Girls Scouts as well as Boy Scouts and wanted a patch
program that would introduce ham radio, as the 'Radio' merit badge does in the
Boy Scouts," said ARRL Education Services Manager Debra Johnson, K1DMJ. "I was
introduced to a group of leaders with Girl Scouts of Greater Atlanta who wanted
to work in developing a new fun patch program for radio that would fit with the
Girl Scout Leadership Development Program structure. This group was joined by
Jill Galus, KB1SWV, of the Girl Scouts of the Green and White Mountains in New
Hampshire. We collaborated on this over the course of several years." Galus's
father, "Skip" Youngberg, K1NKR, and a team from the Nashoba Valley Radio
Club[2] helped test drive the new patch program during "Thinking Day on the
Air" this past February with Girl Scouts in Raymond, New Hampshire.
The program defines the requirements for Girl Scouts to earn the patch at the
Brownie, Junior, Cadette, Senior, and Ambassador levels. Girl Scouts can learn
the fundamentals of radio communication and wireless technology from
broadcasting to smartphones and apply what they learn to connect people,
provide safety, and explore related careers. In addition to the acquiring the
fundamentals, participants can explore radio science through hands-on learning
with Amateur Radio, and use radio to talk around the world and for public
service. They also can learn about the role of wireless technology in everyday
life and in careers.
The program supports the Girl Scout Leadership Experience[3] by enabling
participants to discover, by exploring the natural world to learn about radio
communications and wireless technologies; to connect by using knowledge of
wireless technology to understand its capabilities and its limitations, and by
becoming an informed citizen who understands how wireless technologies are
regulated and used, and to take action to make a difference in their
communities by making friends through radio contacts, providing public service
and emergency communication, and raising awareness of career opportunities.
[1] http://www.arrl.org/girl-scoutsradio-patch
[2] http://www.n1nc.org/
[3] http://www.girlscouts.org/content/dam/girlscouts-gsusa/forms-and-documents/a
bout-girl-scouts/research/transforming_leadership.pdf
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