In many parts of the world, school is back in session and regular lessons have resumed. Even before regular classes began, however, 21 teenagers in British Columbia, Canada, were already entrenched in some pretty important homework - or should we say hamwork?

Adam, VE7ZAL, and John, VE7TI, believe that their recent course on radio frequencies and electronics may well be unprecedented for secondary school students in Canada. That was what John wrote in the September/October issue of The Communicator, the magazine of Surrey Amateur Radio Communications. John and Adam, a robotics teacher at Kwantlen Park Secondary school in Surrey, British Columbia, teamed up to help nearly two dozen 13- through 17-year-olds get a better grasp on the principles behind amateur radio and pass the gift of radio on this next generation. By the time the course concluded, the students were able to sit the exam for the Canadian Amateur Radio Certificate.

Gathering hams together for the past three years to support research for pancreatic cancer, a prominent Pennsylvania amateur radio operator has lost his life to the disease. A little more than a year ago, Richard Ryba, WQ3Q, put out a call to his fellow hams asking for them to join the on-air team for N3P, a special event station to raise awareness and donations for pancreatic cancer research and provide aid and resources to families.

On Thursday 5th September 2024, the Skyview Amateur Radio Society issued another call during their 2-metre evening net on Richard's behalf. It was a final call: Richard became a Silent Key on the 31st August, five years after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the same illness that took the life of his younger brother years earlier. An advocate for supporting research, Richard had been the driving force behind an annual special event station that went on the air throughout the US in conjunction with a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania walk-a-thon to benefit the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.

Like hieroglyphics on a wall, these etchings tell a story - but this tale dates back to some not-so-ancient times: The wall etchings are callsigns of students who belonged to the campus amateur radio society at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, a club founded a century ago. Some remnants left by members of the now-defunct club were discovered on the walls of a fifth-floor room in a building undergoing renovation. The room was apparently used for storage; the shack, which had been in a number of campus locations, eventually was moved to the building's basement.

Following the discovery of the callsigns, the university contacted graduates of the college, including Daryl George, whose callsign as a student was WA3EMX, and Neil Wells, whose callsign is still K1UTV. Both are 1969 graduates and shared their memories in an article on the campus website. Both of their callsigns appear etched on the building's wall.