What if you were the one who kept your community connected when everything else failed? Could you?

That’s exactly what GMRS Radio Communication Workshops are here to prepare you for—giving everyday people the power to communicate during a crisis. These hands-on, beginner-friendly workshops are open to all ages and, best of all, totally free.

You’ll walk away with a working GMRS radio, pre-programmed with local frequencies, and the confidence to use it when it counts most.

What You’ll Learn

• How to use your radio in an emergency

• How to get your radio properly programmed

• How to connect with a local network of like-minded, prepared individuals

• And yes—you get to keep the radio

No experience? No problem. Whether you’re brand new or just need a refresher, these workshops are built for you.

Who’s Behind This?

Allow me to introduce myself.  My name is Vicki Carnes. I am a wife, mother, grandmother, amateur radio operator, and STEM-enrichment volunteer.

As the organizer of the STEM Amateur Radio Club, www.stemarc.org , my goal is to generate interest, inspire and motivate young people to discover all the wonders of amateur radio. We do this through a wide array of hands-on STEM experiments as we demonstrate what ham radio encompasses. Middle schoolers and high schoolers are also shown opportunities that may await them as licensed amateur operators, all which would otherwise remain unavailable to them. Our intent is not to supplant teachers nor counselors, but merely to support and supplement them, thereby reinforcing their curriculum. We bring the mysteries and the benefits of this great hobby into the forefront. And through these efforts, we’ve seen an increase in focus and concentration on the part of each and every student.

As part of the STEM Amateur Radio Club organizational documents is our constitution. It reads of our mission to promote an interest in amateur radio hobby among students and young people in general. To promote the participants knowledge and skills in areas related to Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). To conduct activities and programs that will support an interest in the amateur radio hobby. Educate the participants as the importance of amateur radio in providing communications during natural disasters and other emergencies and to promote those skills necessary for participants to earn their amateur radio license.

Recently I’ve added www.ProjectHelene.org as a division of the STEM Amateur Radio Club. The devastation of Hurricane Helene in the mountains of the Carolinas was a wake-up call. Communication is a vital commodity in everyday life, as well as a life-saving tool in emergencies. When existing infrastructures become compromised, damaged, infiltrated by hackers, etc we look for alternate routes, other means of distributing information and communicating with others. The mountains were in a literal ‘black-out’ in late September 2024 for months. The saying is true: ‘When all else fails there’s amateur radio.’

Amateur radio has evolved so far beyond ‘good ol’ boy, CB radio, truck driver image. What better way to share these advancements than to reach out to young people whose minds are more open. Learn from historical recounts of ham radio in our lives. Think of the CQD SOS signal from the Titanic, the Navajo Code Talkers, breaking the code of the Enigma machine. To current day, ARISS program where students talk directly to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. Breakthroughs in science with light transmissions and so much more. I hope you allow your child to participate in the journey with us.

These workshops are beginner-friendly, open to all ages, and completely free. You’ll leave equipped, empowered, and ready to help in times of need.👉 Check upcoming dates and sign up here