Presented By: Nathan Windel, Trey Suskie, and Jason Blake
Join us for a hands-on workshop exploring how Geographic Information Systems (GIS) can transform your classroom into a hub for spatial discovery. Aligned with Arkansas Celebrates America250 and the Arkansas Outdoor Education Initiative, this session shows how mapping engages students in the humanities and sciences through authentic place based learning. Participants will explore the Arkansas Virtual Map and learn how students can contribute to a growing statewide collection of mapped stories, historical sites, and ecological data. Educators will view student-created examples and discover how GIS supports documenting Arkansas’s past, analyzing its ecosystems and connecting learning to real places and audiences. Designed to extend beyond the America250 commemoration, this work empowers teachers and students to build a lasting digital resource that grows across years, grade levels, and content areas while meeting standards and deepening understanding of Arkansas’s history, environment, and communities.