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Map-focused program in Baltimore seeks to connect with other student communities
GeoMentors Community Newsletter

August 2019 | Vol. 5, No. 4
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School is (nearly) back in session, so it's the perfect time to continue, revive, or establish a GeoMentoring collaboration with educators in your area. Let them know you are available to help support their curriculum goals with geospatial technology. Consider planning ahead for Geography Awareness Week and GIS Day, volunteer to talk to students about your career, and/or help schools in your area know about the free GIS software available. Every little bit helps, so let's go! Do you have content ideas for future GeoMentor newsletters? Send them to geomentors@aag.org.

Current GeoMentor Count: 1,934

Current GeoMentor Count

Current School Count: 7,330

Current School Count

Click on images to view the online maps. Choose map tab 1 to see schools using Esri software; choose map tab 4 to view the GeoMentors network.

Inspirational Student Work from the Esri User Conference

 

If you didn't make it to last month's Esri User Conference in San Diego, you can still be awed and inspired by the student work presented there.This year's student group to take the Monday plenary stage was from presenting a project that brought together the Catholic and Protestant schools and students to explore their own community and their comfort in different spaces.

 

At the GeoMentor Meetup, attendees had the opportunity to see the student winners of the annual ArcGIS Online Competition present their work. Abby Ziehl, an 8th grade student from Bloomington, Minnesota was the winner of the middle school competition. She presented her work on the . Donovan Vitale, a recent high school graduate in Monroe, Michigan was the winner of the high school competition and presented his work on the . Check out the ArcGIS Online Organization of Donovan's High school, , and the great program set up by his teacher, Russell Columbus.

Help Share Geography Career Materials to High School Guidance Counselors

 

As part of ongoing efforts to inform students at earlier educational stages about opportunities in geography, the American Association of Geographers has compiled geography career information packets that are available to mail to high school guidance counselors. The packets include materials about career opportunities and paths in geography, how to learn about the different college and university geography programs and degrees available, online jobs and careers resources, and information about the GeoMentors program to help connect more K-12 teachers with you, our GeoMentors!

 

Would you like a packet to be sent to schools in your area? Use this to provide contact information for counselors and teachers that you would like to receive a packet. If you have any questions, contact the AAG’s Candice Luebbering, at .

Will We Make it Out Alive?: GIS & Citizen Science Podcast with a GeoMentor Co-Host!

 

Looking for a new podcast to add to your playlist? Check out , described as a "hilarious and educational monthly podcast that engages people, inspires participation in the restoration of the environment, cultivates enhanced use of GIS (geographic information systems) tools, and increases awareness of citizen science opportunities." Co-host is one of our very own GeoMentors - in fact, she's featured in one of the Spotlights below! The podcast aims to provide you with "opportunities to connect with your community and feel a sense of place while engaging in public service." Check out their blog or listen via Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Stitcher, Tune In, and others that link to these sites.

Learn ArcGIS Contributor Program

Share your GIS Lessons with a Global Audience

 

Have you found the or the to be helpful? Have you thought about how your prepared GIS lessons could add to the collection or perhaps you have suggestions for lessons to develop and include? You can share your ideas and materials via the Learn ArcGIS Contributor Program! Experienced teachers and GIS professionals can submit their work (lessons, blogs, or script videos) to be considered for inclusion on the Learn ArcGIS and Teach with GIS websites. If approved your work will be published online and you can earn a certificate of contribution from Esri (there are also opportunities to receive compensation). You can submit your content or ideas through an . More information will be available soon on this site as well including a Contributor Program Success Guide.
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Earn a Free Pin

Share your GeoMentor experience as a and receive the Esri GIS Innovator pin!
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Get Your Certificate

about your activities and receive an official !

 

 

GeoMentor Spotlight

 

Each issue we feature GeoMentor volunteers to showcase the wonderful talent available in our community to assist K-12 schools. Meet our GeoMentor Spotlights for August and September below and consider to be included in the future!

Jennifer Radcliff

GIS Program Coordinator for the City of Tumwater, WA; Co-owner and Host of the podcast "Will We Make It Out Alive?"

 

What was your favorite class in K-12? I liked almost all of them. I don't remember having a favorite.

 

How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I was in my senior year of undergrad, wondering what I was going to do with a geography degree. I took my first GIS class my last semester of undergrad (it was the only GIS course offered at the time), then went on to grad school so I could work in the GIS lab and get experience.

 

Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography. I get to do so many different things! There's a location to almost everything, so I get to do a little bit of everything. I never get bored!

 

Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor? I love GIS and would like to share my knowledge with a teacher so kids can get experience with GIS at a younger age.

 

What kind of GeoMentor volunteer opportunity and experience are you looking for? I would like to work with a teacher to answer their questions and help them prepare for using GIS in the classroom, and to make them aware of the resources out there (free licenses, lesson plans, etc.). I don't want to be in a classroom myself though.

 

If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence? Location ties disparate data together and if you're not looking at the "where," you're not seeing the whole picture and not making the best decisions possible.

 

Email:

Websites: ; ;

Twitter:

Adam signed up as a GeoMentor at the 2015 Esri UC (left photo). He stopped by the AAG space at the 2019 UC where we did our best to recreate our first meeting (right photo).

Adam Araza

GIS Analyst – City of Cupertino, California

 

What was your favorite class in K-12? English

 

How did you first learn about and/or use GIS? I wasn’t too sure about what I wanted to major in my first couple years in college. My uncle worked as a city planner, and he would tell me: “companies are always hiring for people that know GIS”. So, one year, to avoid taking a chemistry class, I registered for physical geography, and the professor of that class repeated the same advice. The next semester, I enrolled in an intro GIS course and ended up getting my BA in geography.

 

Name one thing you love about GIS and/or geography. The flexibility to apply Geography/GIS knowledge to different fields.

 

Why did you want to volunteer as a GeoMentor? I have found working in GIS to be a rewarding career. I wanted to spread the word to those who may not be aware.

 

What kind of GeoMentor volunteer opportunity and experience are you looking for? I’d like to find the time in my schedule to teach GIS on-site. I haven’t been able devote enough time to coordinate with a local school, but I am proud to say that since volunteering to become a GeoMentor, I started a scholarship that requires students to answer a geography-based prompt.

 

If someone asked you why they should learn about GIS and/or geography, how would you respond in one sentence? Companies are always hiring for people that know GIS.

 

Email:

Websites:

 

Read our of GeoMentor spotlights. Want to be featured?

Information is available on our .

Green Map® Your Community with Baltimore City Students

 

Green Map® Your Community (GMYC), a program created by non-profit Baltimore Green Map, grows civic awareness through mapmaking activities. The program utilizes the international set of Green Map icons, charting natural, cultural and daily living assets that contribute to a more sustainable community. Through memory mapping, field trips, interviews and research, students compile information and identify specific actions that help improve their schools and communities. They have worked with Baltimore City students, 4th graders to High School, over the past six years.

 

What did teachers like best about the Green Map Your Community program? It fit within the curriculum and helped students relate to their own community as agents of change. Choosing specific Green Map icons as a prompt helped students define their individual perspectives on where they live, the mapping goal sharpened their observation skills on community walks, and working toward the end product of communicating about where they live to others gave additional depth to the project.

 

Baltimore Green Map is eager to develop Geo-Exchanges between Baltimore students and students in other places to broaden their sense of the world. Through sharing information about where they live, what they have in common, how they are different, and how they are working to improve their environments, students build a stewardship ethic and a global perspective. Contact Janet Felsten, and/or learn more at . Green Map icons are available with a Creative Commons license at .
GeoMentors Flyer

GeoMentors Flyer

Share this with your geo-friends and colleagues to help grow our GeoMentors community!
GeoMentors Newsletter Archive

Newsletter Archive

Check out previous issues in our .

 

 

Featured Resources: ArcGIS Guidance for Teachers and GeoMentors

 

There are several new resources we want to point out that are geared for teachers or GeoMentors using ArcGIS in the classroom. Share these with others who might find them useful!

 

: In addition to the Teach with GIS Guides and Curriculum Builder, check out this collection of "on-boarding activities, tips and tricks, and educator activities" including a video featuring a teacher in Virginia and her experience of getting starting teaching GIS.

 

: This beginner path is designed to help teachers build their confidence with online mapping tools.

 

: Newly added to the Teach with GIS series, this guide is designed to assist GeoMentors with helping schools implement GIS in the classroom.

 

You can probably sort out what this is - a gallery of digital map products created using ArcGIS. Check them out and get inspired!

GeoMentor-Run Nonprofit in Metro Detroit

Urbannature4kids

 

Many of our GeoMentors work for wonderful organizations while some start and run their very own! GeoMentor Raven Wright founded in Detroit, Michigan with a mission to help children at an early age (K-4) learn about environmental STEM career fields. Urbannature4kids is mainly geared towards children who reside in low income communities in the metro Detroit area. The goal of the website is to be a free information portal and since signing up to be a GeoMentor, Wright is now also encouraging public schools to implement GIS into their curriculum. Wright has a Bachelor's in Geology and a Master's in Urban Planning from Wayne State University and balances running her new non-profit while working as a certified procurement contract specialist. She was inspired to start Urbannature4kids through a class project in a social entrepreneurship course. We applaud Raven's initiative and we're excited to see how she will grow her organization into the future!

Just for Fun: 2019 Esri UC Map Gallery Winners

 

If you missed the Map Gallery in person in San Diego, no worries - you can see the best of the best by reviewing the winners from all categories in the online . In particular, you can check out the winners in the student categories which include student up to age 12 (2019 winning map: ), students ages 13-18 (2019 winning map: ), and post-secondary students (2019 winning map: ).

Winner of Best Cartography at the 2019 Esri UC: Tree Symbolism at Oakwood Cemetery in Austin, Texas. Authored by Alan Halter from City of Austin.
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