Latest ARRL BoD July Meeting Minutes

This Hiram Award JN is really impressive! Not only for his recruiting/teaching new hams and organizing the school ham club, but soon to become an Eagle scout.

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17. On motion of Mr. Bodson, seconded by Mr. Isely, it was unanimously VOTED that the ARRL Board of Directors selects Jimmy Carter, KG4SGP, of Burke, Virginia, as the recipient of the 2005 ARRL Hiram Percy Maxim Award.
Over the past year Jimmy, age 13, has earned his Extra Class License. He initiated, planned and organized a ham radio club at his school, including finding a teacher who would sponsor the club. Jimmy personally recruited and taught four new members of the club. Jimmy contacted and convinced VEs from the Alexandria, Virginia radio club to come to the school during work hours to give the kids the amateur radio exam. Only one of the new members passed the first time, but Jimmy continued to work with the other three club members. At the next session, a Saturday, less than a month later, all three of the other club members earned their licenses. Jimmy continues to recruit young people into the school club and there are now a total of ten club members.
Jimmy realized that his club needed to be ARRL affiliated. He assembled the necessary documents and applied for and was granted affiliation.
Jimmy was instrumental in applying for an ARRL Education and Technology Program grant for his club. Based on Jimmy’s outstanding work, his club was awarded a grant and is now anxiously awaiting the arrival of the equipment. In the middle of all of this activity the school sponsor decided that the supervisory role he had taken on was too cumbersome. Not fazed, Jimmy went in search of a new sponsor, which was not an easy task with several days when it looked like the club would fold. Jimmy, ever the optimist, would not allow his club to fold and was successful in persuading another teacher to take on the role.
In his free time, he regularly participates in the Alexandria radio club’s weekly nets and monthly meetings. Jimmy is a volunteer radio responder for disaster relief in the local area and a tremendous advocate of ARES. Jimmy also participates in contests and has received an award for his participation in the Virginia QSO Party. He has also built a web page for the school club.
School and Amateur Radio are just parts of Jimmy’s life. He is also a varsity athlete and taking many honors classes. As a freshman in high school he earned his varsity letter. In his academics, he recently won third place at the Virginia regional science fair with his project “How Q affects bandwidth and signal strength.” Jimmy is a member of the Boy Scouts of America, holding the rank of Life Scout while working to complete his Eagle Scout requirements. He is a member of the Order of the Arrow (Applause).