Long-time friends of ours, Ronny and Tina Risinger, have gotten a ham radio club started at Deep Wood Elementary in Round Rock, Texas.

From the Austin-American Statesman:

It's 3:30 p.m. at Deep Wood Elementary. Classes are over, but a dozen students huddled around a ham radio station aren't eager to go home.

They're busy talking to ham operators in Tennessee, Indiana, Minnesota, and Maryland.

Deep Wood Elementary fourth-grader Jonathan Wachholz makes contact over a ham radio during a radio club meeting. From left, Alex Paredes, Jacob Holley, Julia Candela and Sam Dixon listen in.

"This is Kilo Charley Five Bravo Zulu Alpha - the Deep Wood Elementary Amateur Radio Club in Round Rock, Texas," says 9-year-old Alex Paredes, rattling off his school's call sign over the microphone like a pro.

The kids have reached as far as India and Mongolia in their radio travels.

This is the kind of extra commitment and dedication that can make a big impact on students, interesting them in technical topics and opening them up to a wider view of the world.

Way to go Tina! And good job on hiring a top-notch 'consultant'.