Since 1998, the state of Mississippi has actively fostered the development of a geospatial technology cluster through supporting private sector development, university research, and workforce development efforts. Through this concerted effort to build statewide infrastructure in the geospatial field, Mississippi has firmly established a vital technology cluster that continues to demonstrate tremendous growth potential.

One of the results of this growth is an unprecedented number of new high-tech positions in Mississippi with the job growth over the past few years far outpacing the number of qualified candidates to fill available vacancies. To help address this ongoing demand for well-trained employees, the Enterprise for Innovative Geospatial Solutions (EIGS) and the Geospatial Council of the Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL) established a geospatial high school adoption program with high schools around the State of Mississippi. EIGS provided the funding while the Geospatial Council provided guidance and oversight of the project activities. The high school participants were chosen based on their geographical proximity to a university and/or community college partner to ensure timely support and success of the projects.

The 6-month long pilot program consisted of selected high schools working with university or community college partners to design and complete a community-based geospatial information science and technology (GIS&T) project. The participating high schools received computer hardware and software, technical support, GPS units, and resource books to support the projects. Additionally, the students, facilitators, and community partners were offered 2-day Intro to ArcGIS training courses and received certificates of completion.

Geospatial Missions in Mississippi as Important as Those in Outer Space
The program, named the Mississippi Area Remapping Strategy (MARS), focused on the slogan, “Geospatial Missions in Mississippi as Important as Those in Outer Space” and included high school teachers and students from Water Valley, Batesville, Cleveland, Enterprise, and Claiborne County, MS. Volunteering their time and expertise to partner with the high schools were members of the IHL Geospatial Council including Alcorn State University, Delta State University, Jones County Community College, Northwest Mississippi Community College, and The University of Mississippi. The high school participants varied from school to school. For instance, the students participating from Enterprise High School were second year Forestry program students while the students from South Panola High School were all members of the Technology Student Association.

The Geospatial Council made a critical decision that a key component of the pilot program would be the involvement of the community and would focus on a community need that GIS technology could help address. The projects concentrated on a diverse array of community needs and involved a number of organizations such as fire departments, the Mayor’s Office, public works departments, school districts, and a chamber of commerce.

The official kick-off for the program was held January 26, 2007, in the capital city of Jackson, MS. The program included representatives from critical stakeholders such as the State Board for Community and Junior Colleges, the Institutions of Higher Learning, and the Mississippi Department of Education. Additionally, representatives from the geospatial industry cluster were present to address the critical workforce needs faced by the geospatial industry as well as the key GIS&T skills in demand by employers.  

Win-Win Situation: Students Learn, Local Communities Benefit
During the spring 2007 semester, the high school teams worked hard to complete the projects uniquely designed to address the needs of their particular community. Below is a summary of the projects and results as well as the local community impact.

• Claiborne County Vocational and Technical Complex worked with Alcorn State University and the Claiborne County Water Department and Port Gibson Fire Department to GIS Code fire hydrants in Port Gibson. Using GPS units provided by Alcorn State University, the students recorded latitude and longitude addresses of all fire hydrants within the city limits of Port Gibson.  They were able to convert the information into several maps and used data from ArcView to see how many rental homes and households had fire hydrants near them.
  
  The students conducted background research to learn about the fire insurance rates in Claiborne County/Port Gibson and how the fire system helps to regulate the rate. It sparked their interest to identify the latitude and longitude addresses of the schools and gas stations as well. The students’ best observed that if a fire were to take place, the schools and gas stations would need the most immediate attention.
  The results showed that there are about 90 hydrants in the city limits of Port Gibson and through their efforts the students learned that there are more hydrants in areas where there are fewer households. It appears that there is a higher density population in Claiborne County when compared to that of the city limits of Port Gibson. There are at least two fire hydrants at each school site in Port Gibson. The students concluded that if there were additional active fire departments in Claiborne County, the result would be lower insurance premiums for the residents in Port Gibson as well.



• The Forestry students of Enterprise High School worked with Jones County Junior College and Forest One, Inc. to help the Mississippi Forestry Commission on re-mapping efforts for Section 16 land in Clark County. They used Garmin GPSmap 76 global positioning systems to collect data on the road and trail networks, as well as other important cultural features, on the sixteenth section property near their campus. After each mission, they downloaded their data to their computer using a free software program called MN DNR Garmin created by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Using this software, they converted their Garmin data to ESRI Shapefiles which were then integrated into a GIS for the Mississippi Forestry Commission. The students took detailed field notes describing each mission they worked.
  The students were provided ESRI’s “Introduction to ArGIS” training course as well as several informal training sessions on GPS, GIS, and the MN DNR Garmin software. They produced a “Field Methods Guide” for collecting GPS data using the Garmin GPSmap 76.
  
  In less than two weeks, the Enterprise students mapped every road, trail, culvert, and water diversion structure on the 640-acre tract. They also mapped important cultural features like cemeteries and wildlife food plots. They even mapped areas of invasive species like cogon grass that needs to be controlled.
  
  The forestry program now plans to integrate GIS technology into the curriculum so that forestry students who enter higher education programs will have the basic knowledge needed to move quickly into special degree programs, including forestry, engineering, and agriculture.



• Cleveland High School students partnered with the Center for Interdisciplinary Geospatial Information Technologies at Delta State University and worked with the Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce to use geospatial technologies and digital recordings to create a product that can be used in the promotion of Cleveland businesses. The result, “Theater of the Mind: An Interactive Map of Bolivar County,” uses enhanced audio and video content for an Internet-based interactive experience that focuses on local sites of interest for tourism and recreation in the City of Cleveland and Bolivar County.
  
  The students used GPS to map 15-20 tourism points of interest, photographed these sites, compiled and recorded audio tracks describing the points, and combined points into an interactive online map. Students involved in the project received dual high school and college credit. Additionally, two of the participating students received scholarships for GIS coursework at Delta State University. The project is being sustained through funding from the Chamber of Commerce and the Center for Interdisciplinary Geographic Information Technology.