In the News

Generational Legacy Carried on in ARRL Teachers Institute

08/02/2024

As ARRL continues to empower teachers to bring amateur radio and radio technology into their classrooms through the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology, many generous donors have stepped up to enable the work.

Parents can make all the difference in someone’s success. David Ginsberg, N3BKV, knows that well. His parents, Hy and Mimi Ginsberg, supported his passions, “Whether it was my mom driving me to the planetarium for weekend classes that allowed me to learn about the universe to my father taking me to my first hamfest and his support of this hobby, they saw my passion for amateur radio and how it gave me a focus to learn about science, computers, and electronics through it,” he wrote.

David knew he wanted to pay that forward. To honor his parents’ dedication to fostering curious minds while also supporting the future of amateur radio, he chose to establish the Hy and Mimi Ginsberg Educator position within the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology.

The program equips teachers to incorporate amateur radio and wireless technology into science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) curriculum. The TI is funded entirely by donor contributions though the ARRL Education Fund. Teachers pay an application fee, but all other costs of transportation, lodging and course materials are covered. It costs $4,000 to send a teacher through the program.

David Ginsberg wanted that to happen in the name of his parents. “They knew the power of knowledge and believed in supporting teachers when they were both alive through many charitable endeavors,” he said.

The first Hy and Mimi Ginsberg Educator is Danielle Adler, Ed.D., K6FIN. She is the founder of San Diego Youth Science, an organization that partners with many schools to advance youth involvement in marine sciences.

Dr. Adler is excited to take the knowledge she gained in the TI back to the young people she impacts, so they may get hands on with radio. “Providing students with ways to participate in authentic science is incredibly impactful, and radio science can be a wonderful and relevant tool,” wrote Dr. Adler in a thank you letter to David Ginsberg, citing the impact his parents’ legacy will continue to have.

In the last three years, 175 educators have attended the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology. There are 7 cohorts of the program in 2024, but the goal is to scale it to 10 for 2025. “There’s demonstrated success with this program, and a great opportunity to continue growing,” said ARRL Director of Development Kevin Beal, K8EAL. “By having the support of people like the Ginsburg Family, ARRL will continue to enable educators to grow ham radio in the generation that will likely take humanity to Mars and beyond,” said Beal.

More information about the ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology can be found at www.arrl.org/ti.

- Danielle Adler, founder of San Diego Youth Science, recently introduced Hannah Tandy as a new science educator with SDYS. Tandy, a proud graduate of Mission Bay High School, recently graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University where she received her bachelor's degree in geosciences. Her research in undergraduate school focused on understanding modern day climate change by studying climates of the past. For her thesis work, Tandy received the Princeton Edward Sampson Class of 1914 Prize in Environmental Science. She will be pursuing her Ph.D and continuing her research in the causes and implications of climate change.

Founded in 2016, SDYS is bringing the local Kelp Forest to classrooms at Pacific Beach Elementary and Barnard Elementary this month. A local science education group based in Pacific Beach, SDYS develops custom hands-on science lessons and programs that span all fields of science designed to enhance a school’s existing science curriculum over the school year. SDYS educators teach the hands-on and NGSS aligned programs during the school day, coming in to each classroom once a month.

PB Elementary

- Three fourth-grade classes from Pacific Beach Elementary took a walking field trip to the tide pools at Tourmaline Beach on March 1. Led by San Diego Youth Science teachers Danielle Adler and Stacy Circuit, students learned about the marine habitat and then worked in groups to record their observations. "When designing programs at San Diego Youth Science our main goal is to make the science relevant and interesting to our students,” Adler said. “We strive to inspire scientific thinking about the world through hands-on, student driven experimentation and engagement in the process of science." All grades at PBE have been working with SDYS over the past two months exploring beach habitats, from the sandy beach and wrack habitat to the kelp forest and tide pools. The program is culminating with field trips to Tourmaline Beach where students explore and conduct transect studies examining species abundance and diversity.