On August 1, 2024, Steve Goodgame, K5ATA, ARRL Education and Learning Manager, took a train trip to New York City to visit the Staten Island Technical High School. He was there to help administer amateur radio exams to 49 students and all passed their exams. Several upgraded their licenses from General to Extra class and two students went from unlicensed to Extra class in one sitting.

Their teacher, Everton Henriques, KD2ZZT, attended ARRL’s Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology TI - 1 last year and TI - 2 this year. Since then, Everton has helped over 100 kids successfully test for their amateur radio licenses. He has built a program incorporating HF, local repeater use, foxhunting, and space communications and has plans to incorporate mesh networking with his students this coming school year.

On August 6, 2024, Henriques was helping his students build antennas to help make contact with the International Space Station. They made a 5-element VHF “bad boy” antenna with a mounting mechanism to rotate and pitch the heading using 3D-printed materials, PVC, and aluminum rods. They tried using an IC-2730a VHF/UHF radio on medium power. While that didn’t go as well as planned, they were able to hear a lot of activity on 70 centimeters.

Staten Island Technical High School began as a New York City public high school in 1988. Its student body is comprised of lifelong learners, innovation facilitators, contributors to the betterment of society and intellectually inquisitive young men and women. In September of 2005, the school was granted the status as New York City’s 7th Specialized High School by the New York City Department of Education. New York City’s Specialized High Schools are comprised of the most academically gifted and talented students.