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| 2022 Carole Perry Educator of the Year Dick Fijlstra, PA0DFN (OARC photos) |
The Orlando Hamcation® has selected Dutch amateur Dick Fijlstra, PA0DFN, as the 2022 Carole Perry Educator of the Year. A retired public school principal, Dick continues working with young people by organizing exhibitions at different schools to make students aware of the radio hobby and inspire them to pursue careers in science and technology.
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| Dick teaches foxhunting techniques to a young competitor. |
Dick is also heavily involved in amateur radio direction-finding (ARDF) – also known as foxhunting – and uses hidden transmitter hunts as one method of introducing young people to amateur radio. He is the representative of VERON, the Dutch national ham radio association, to the International Amateur Radio Union's Region 1 (Europe, Africa and the Middle East) ARDF committee. One of the committee's activities is the European Youth ARDF Championships, in which young people ages 14-19 from all over Europe compete to find hidden transmitters. Dick builds many of the foxhunting transmitters and receivers used in the events that he coordinates.
The Carole Perry Educator of the Year award is named in honor of its first recipient, noted ham educator Carole Perry, WB2MGP. The award will be presented at this month's Orlando Hamcation® hamfest in Florida. (Full disclosure: CQ Editor Rich Moseson, W2VU, is on the judging committee for this award)