Date: March 2026
Amount: $8,790

Tri Lakes Amateur Radio Club, W0TRI, began offering Technician Boot Camp classes in 2024 to help more people in the Branson, Missouri area get involved in amateur radio. After several homeschool students earned their licenses through one of those classes, HOPE Homeschool Co-op asked the club to introduce amateur radio as part of its STEM curriculum.

With this grant from ARDC, the club will support a 15-week course where students use license manuals, electronics kits, handheld radios, and station equipment to learn radio basics, work through hands-on electronics labs, and prepare for the Technician license exam. The project will also help the co-op start an ARRL school club and set up a station so students can keep using amateur radio after the course ends.