Home    News    July News

News from the Keweenaw Peninsula July 25, 2002 Text and photos © 2002 Michele Anderson

Keweenaw Academy welcomes PastyNET wireless service

MT. HORACE GREELEY -- Wireless Internet service will become fully operational at Keweenaw Academy by the end of July, according to Charlie Hopper, PastyNET general manager.

On a hot July afternoon, Charlie and his son Jonathan Hopper, PastyNET's systems administrator, climbed the five-story tower atop Mt. Horace Greeley -- one of the highest points in Keweenaw County -- to install an antenna for wireless communication similar to the wireless system PastyNET installed a year ago at the Houghton County Airpark south of Calumet.

Charlie Hopper, left, points out to Pete Haapala, Keweenaw Academy director of education, the antenna for wireless service that he and his son Jonathan, right, installed on the former radar tower on the Academy campus. The antenna, barely visible, is a small, curved structure just above Jonathan's head in the photo.

At the June 2002 meeting of the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners, Charlie Hopper requested and received approval to use the tower on the former radar building as an access point for the wireless technology. The county owns the former United States Air Force property where Keweenaw Academy, a residential and educational training facility for delinquent (male) youth, is now situated.

At the June meeting of the Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners, Charlie Hopper reads his proposal to provide  wireless Internet service for Keweenaw Academy and the Courthouse in Eagle River in return for the wireless access point on the Academy campus. Seated in the audience are, from left, Jane Pelto, Keweenaw County zoning administrator; Sheriff Ron Lahti, who has offered use of a soon-to-be-outdated police tower for the wireless system; and Donna Jaaskelainen, Keweenaw County prosecuting attorney.

The Keweenaw County Board of Commissioners approved a 36-month arrangement with PastyNET for the high-speed wireless service.

Commissioner Don Keith noted the benefit of the agreement will be to provide a service (that is not available now) to people of Keweenaw County.

Charlie said he hoped the access point would provide a wireless Internet connection as far as Bete Grise.

"When I sat on the beach at Bete Grise (opposite the Mendota Lighthouse), I realized it was a historical event -- the first time for high-speed Internet access beyond Mohawk," Charlie said.

Last year PastyNET outbid Charter Communications for the Airpark contract, he explained, noting that Charter only reaches as far as Mohawk.

"Hopefully one of these days we want to get it into Copper Harbor," Charlie mused.

In addition to providing the access point on Mt. Horace Greeley, Keweenaw County has given PastyNET space for an antenna on the Sheriff's tower in Eagle River, which will eventually allow wireless service for the county offices in the Courthouse in Eagle River, as well as the Academy. Elmo Negro's tower near Phoenix is to be used, with his permission, as an intermediate hop for the connection, Charlie noted.

Keweenaw County Sheriff Ron Lahti said the old police tower won't be necessary for police communication as of September.

"It's been used for our police radio communications, but we're going to be abandoning it because of the new 800 mhz police tower (in Eagle Harbor)," Lahti explained. "In order for me to communicate with Negaunee (the Michigan State Police dispatch center) I need to use their system."

Lahti has received a federal grant of $24,000, which will cover the cost of switching the radio system over to the new 800 mhz system. The federal grant is part of the post-September 11 Homeland Security program. Keweenaw County now has basic 911 service through the Negaunee dispatch.

"We hope to have the enhanced 911 up an running by early 2003," Lahti noted. "'Enhanced' means when you dial 911 all the information about where you're calling from pops up on the dispatcher's screen."

Keweenaw Academy to benefit from distance learning programs

Pete Haapala, Keweenaw Academy director of education, said the wireless service will benefit the Academy's educational programs, including distance learning through the Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD), which is now Internet-based.

Pete Haapala, center, Keweenaw Academy director of education, poses with Charlie, left, and Jonathan Hopper of PastyNET just after installation of the antenna that will bring wireless Internet service to the Academy. Haapala said the wireless service will facilitate participation in distance learning through the Copper Country Intermediate School District (CCISD).

"It's going to be a definite advantage because it will allow us to use the Internet more efficiently and to tie in to distance learning with the CCISD," Haapala said. "Our school is pretty up-to-date in terms of technology, and the wireless is just going to be a plus to that."

Dave Torola, Title I teacher, joined Charlie and Jonathan in the Academy's "virtual" science lab, equipped with computers, to test the new system.

In the Keweenaw Academy science lab, Dave Torola, left, Title I teacher at Keweenaw Academy, discusses the wireless Internet equipment with Charlie and Jonathan Hopper. The black box on the wall at right is typical of a business-use, wireless access point.

"I think it's exciting," Torola said. "It'll be a lot easier -- a lot less down time."

PastyNET's Wireless Internet (and email) service is 15 times as fast as a dial-in connection and faster than some of the local cable communications, because wireless has "low latency," which means quicker browsing, Charlie explained.

In addition to the Airpark wireless service, PastyNET recently received approval to use the Quincy Mine Hoist on Quincy Hill in Hancock and the Calumet Theatre clock tower for wireless access points.

At a recent Calumet Village Council meeting PastyNET received approval from the Council to mount a test antenna on the Theatre. At their August meeting the council will consider whether this arrangement is aesthetically acceptable.

"We deeply care about preserving the historic integrity of the building,' Charlie said.

Like the Academy and the Courthouse, the Theatre -- as well as Calumet Village offices and the Village police (all housed in the theatre building) -- will receive in-kind free wireless service from PastyNET in return for the access points.

At the Airpark, the wireless antenna installed at Michigan Tech's Keweenaw Research Center connects several wireless users (businesses in the Airport's industrial park) with one dedicated, high-speed land line (through Ameritech) from the Keweenaw Research Center to PastyNET in Calumet. In this way, a half dozen wireless users can share one land line, which gives them a faster connection than their previous 24-k dial-up connections.

"Our coverage is localized around the access points," Charlie explained. "If we put circles on a map of the Keweenaw, they would be a couple of miles around the Academy, then another circle around Eagle River, one around Lac La Belle, one around Calumet/Laurium, one around the Airpark, then later one around Houghton/Hancock, etc. It doesn't create continuous coverage 'between' the access points, but rather locally around them."

The new free Internet connection is one of several recent improvements at Keweenaw Academy. Sewer problems were repaired last fall, and environmental remediation of contamination left by the Air Force is now at the stage of monitoring by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, according to Chuck Smith, facility administrator.

Chuck Smith, Keweenaw Academy facility administrator.

"They're still doing well testing, and (it) has proved negative contamination," Smith said.

Academy enrollment expected to improve

Suffering from low enrollments, the Academy recently received approval from the State of Michigan's Family Independence Agency (FIA) to recruit young men who are neglect/abuse wards as well as delinquent youth. In this demonstration program, the new category of students will have the same teachers, the same classrooms and programs; but they will be separated from the delinquents.

"They'll be housed and educated separately," Smith explained. "We have to market the different FIA offices and courts throughout the state (to recruit students)."

Smith said the Academy's strong points are education, location, community involvement and community approval. Besides general high school education, the Academy offers vocational education in such programs as welding, computer-aided design, food service and building trades.

This view of the Keweenaw Academy buildings on Mt. Horace Greeley, one of the highest points in Keweenaw County, shows Lac La Belle in the distance (far right). The Academy is located near Gratiot Lake.

"We also offer employment opportunities in the community to provide real-world job experiences," Smith noted.

Academy students have done community service projects such as rehabilitation of the Evergreen Cemetery in Eagle River and maintenance of several miles of the U.S. 41 covered road leading to Copper Harbor (part of the Michigan Department of Transportation Adopt-A-Highway program).

One of the community service projects done by Academy students is maintenance of several miles of this covered road on U.S. 41. This part of the road is designated as a scenic highway, leading to Copper Harbor.

Haapala said he didn't think separating the new group of students from the delinquents would be a problem. The Academy has 56 staff members, including seven teachers and one teacher aide.

Added Smith, "We'd like to have about 110 to 120 students (and) about 105 employees."

Smith said the Academy has no preference as to where the students come from.

"Most of the students here now are from the U.P. and northern Lower Peninsula," he noted. "In fact, it's kind of nice to have local students because we encourage family involvement ... Some families receive counseling and family therapy while the students are here on campus."

Haapala said the Academy offers opportunities to play varsity basketball and track against other schools as well as a variety of intra-mural sports -- football, basketball, soccer and fishing.

"The program provides a lot of structure for the student," Haapala said.

"Project Fish" is an experimental learning program/summer school experience that revolves around sport fishing, Haapala noted. The students study all areas of the curriculum using fishing as a background. It includes instruction in history, English, ecology and science, as well as the laws and regulations on fishing.

"At the end of (last) summer we took 15 boys out to Isle Royale," Haapala said. "They loved it."

Said Smith, "The DNR (Department of Natural Resources) has issued us a campus-wide license for all the students and has issued us fishing tackle."

In another program, "Project Rock," students study local mining history, geology and minerals of the Copper Country.

"Most of the funding for these programs is coming through Title I money," Haapala explained.

He added that contributions have also been received from local donors such as Copper Country Ford, Wal-Mart and Gander Mountain Sporting Goods in Marquette.

Evereds leases the Academy from Keweenaw County, and Youth Services International (YSI) leases it from Evereds.

Editor's note: Read more about PastyNET on their Web site news. Visit the Keweenaw Academy Web site to learn more about this unique educational facility in Keweenaw County.