K-8 Students to Experience EdGEOcation

USGIF to host San Antonio area Girl Scouts, Girls Inc., and Boy Scouts

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K-8 students from the San Antonio area will have the opportunity to participate in various activities during GEOINT 2017. Not only will the students learn about GEOINT but also experience it firsthand by performing basic intelligence and analysis skills.

“GEOINT education for K-12 students is very important to the Foundation,” said USGIF COO Aimee McGranahan. “We are very excited to host these groups of young students to hear from senior leaders in the Intelligence Community and make them aware of GEOINT and the many career possibilities that comes with the field.”

More than 30 girls from the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas chapter will visit the Symposium June 5 to earn their STEM merit badges. On June 6, 15 girls from the Eureka! STEM program of Girls Inc. San Antonio will also attend.

The girls’ groups will take part in interactive activities on the National Geographic Giant Traveling Map of North America as well as attend a live UAS demonstration, technology demos, and presentations from female government and industry leaders, including:

  • Dawn Eilenberger, Deputy Director of National Intelligence
  • Karyn Hayes-Ryan, component acquisition executive, National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA)
  • Suzette Kimball, director, Civil Applications Committee
  • Letitia Long, former director, NGA
  • Carmen Medina, founder, MedinAnalytics; co-founder, com
  • Patty Mims, deputy director, Federal Government, Esri
  • Christy Monaco, director, Corporate Assessment Program Evaluation, NGA

USGIF’s K-8 educational program is generously funded and sponsored by AECOM, AGI, BAE Systems, DigitalGlobe, and Raytheon. 

Girls Inc. attendees will also experience an exclusive GlobalXplorer Workshop, sponsored by DigitalGlobe, GlobalXplorer, and USGIF. GlobalXplorer is a citizen science and archeology platform that enlists volunteers around the world to discover sites unknown to modern archaeologists. The result of Dr. Sarah Parcak’s 2016 TED Prize, GlobalXplorer is a customized crowdsourcing platform produced by DigitalGlobe.

Girls Inc. will learn how space technology and on-the-ground efforts come together through GlobalXplorer while using the platform.

“GlobalXplorer gives kids an interactive way to learn about how satellite imagery can be used to see a better world,” said Nancy Coleman, DigitalGlobe’s vice president of corporate communications. “We’re advocating for children, especially girls, to be exposed to real-life STEM applications early in their education, in hopes of inspiring them to follow a career path that will lead to the next great scientific discovery.”

In addition to activities geared toward girls, 30 middle school Boy Scouts from the Boy Scouts of America Alamo Area Council will participate in a geocaching activity with members of USGIF’s Young Professionals Group (YPG) June 7. YPG members will accompany the scouts on a geocaching activity throughout downtown San Antonio, where they will navigate various historic landmarks. After completing the activity, each scout will earn a geocaching merit badge.

Contribute to the EdGEOcation Giving Fund

USGIF’s K-12 initiative is made possible through the EdGEOcation Giving Fund, a donation campaign the Foundation launched last fall to increase funding for its educational programs. In addition to providing STEM materials to K-12 classrooms, the giving fund also helps subsidize the USGIF Scholarship Program and Collegiate Accreditation Program.

USGIF would like to thank all Organizational and Individual Foundation members who have contributed to the fund to help bolster the academic GEOINT pipeline for students from Kindergarten through the Ph.D. level. Recently, USGIF Member LGS Innovations donated $7,500 to the EdGEOCcation Giving Fund—the largest single contribution to date.

These and future efforts would not be possible without the generosity of the GEOINT Community.

There are many ways to donate to the giving fund. To donate $5 while at GEOINT 2017, text GEOINT to 27722. You may also donate via credit card, check, and/or cash at USGIF Booth 1647 or visit usgif.org/education/donate.

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