The week of October 19-23, 2026 is one of the best weeks of the year to be listening on the HF bands. That is when the ARRL School Club Roundup puts students on the air — elementary through college stations calling CQ and working the world, with voice, CW, and digital modes. The twice-yearly event runs from 1300Z Monday to 2359Z Friday, in the third full school week of October, and it is the friendliest entry point young operators will ever find.
The exchange is straightforward enough for a first-time operator: your call sign, a signal report, your class — Individual, Club, or School — and your state, Canadian province, or DXCC entity. Scoring keeps things interesting without getting cutthroat. Stations earn one point per phone QSO and two points per CW or digital QSO, with multipliers for states, clubs, and a generous five-times bonus for every school contacted. The weighting is deliberate: working school stations is the point, and the scoring nudges everyone toward the kids.
Operating limits keep it sane for busy school days. A station may operate no more than six hours in any 24-hour period, up to 24 hours across the whole event, with short breaks allowed off the clock. All amateur bands except 60, 30, 17, and 12 meters are permitted, repeaters are off-limits, and the ARRL publishes suggested school frequencies like 14.250-14.280 MHz on 20 meters. Logs are due within 15 days, and every entry earns a downloadable award certificate — a nice trophy for the classroom wall.
You do not need to be a student to participate, and this is the key part. Individual hams and clubs are explicitly encouraged to work the school stations. Think about what it means to a twelve-year-old to answer a call and hear a genuine pileup forming: experienced operators calling back, encouraging, patient with fumbles. Clubs like the Ramblers Radio Club at LaFayette Middle School in Georgia are already planning their 2026 operations — imagine their excitement when the band lights up.
If you hear a school station that week, answer them. Slow down, be encouraging, and make the contact easy. For many of these students it is their first real QSO, and the hobby's future is on the other end of that transmission. One contact from you might be the moment a kid decides ham radio is worth a lifetime.