On November 20th, we celebrated GIS Day by inviting GIS students from Washington-Lee High School to visit Blue Raster. Led by teacher, Ryan Miller, Washington-Lee offers several technology classes linked to James Madison University. For the second year, Blue Raster has hosted the class, giving them some insight into how GIS professionals are making a positive impact in the world today.
Our developers invited the students to use Instagram to connect to other GIS Day celebrants around the world, and created a GIS Day Global Map. Students immediately saw the future prospects of geospatial technology. Mr. Miller said:
Stephen, Michael and the rest of the Blue Raster Team once again volunteered to spend time during GIS Day 2013 with the high school students in my GIS class. Blue Raster provided an exceptionally strong experience that enriched my student’s perspective of the capabilities and potential impact of GIS analysis on the enrichment of peoples’ lives.
The Blue Raster Dev team shared real-world GIS success stories through a round of lightening talks on ongoing projects, and then challenged the students’ analyst skills with a fun Geography Challenge. We wrapped up with a talk about GIS Careers and enjoyed some pizza and prizes.
Mr. Miller said:
To see the impact of GIS, and Blue Raster’s work, assisted each student in making that essential connection between what we learn in the classroom and what is happening concurrently in the real-world. As a teacher, I’m so grateful for their time and their willingness to reach out.
You can try the map challenge yourself.