By Katelyn Dotson, 6th Grade Student from Dresden Elementary
The Dresden Elementary Amateur Radio Station also known as DEARS has had many accomplishments over their ten years in operation at Tri-Valley. Their latest feat is placing number one for elementary clubs in the School Club Roundup Contest held by the National Association for Amateur Radio. The contest took place on February in the year of 2020.
Club founder Jim Mayercak supervised and assisted the sixteen Tri-Valley participants. The contest went on for five days. To prepare for the contest, the students met every other week for about 90 minutes. The students used their radio skills they had learned throughout the year. They also have experience with talking to people from all over the world using their radio.
This year, the club had an outstanding score of 159,432 points, with 728 phone Qs. This amazing group scored higher than any Jr high or senior high club, and all but one college club. They communicated with distant foreign stations like the one in Morocco, which was one of the highlights of the contest. The Tri-Valley Radio Club placed second in the same exact contest last year with a whopping score of 161,007.
With completing all these accomplishments, it is truly clear to see that the Tri-Valley Amateur Radio Club never fails to astound.
