NEWS FROM O’FALLON CITY HALL
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
National Geography /GIS Awareness Week
November 12-18, 2007
O’Fallon, Illinois – October 23, 2007 -- Mayor Gary L. Graham and the City Council are pleased to announce that the City of O’Fallon will be participating in National Geography/GIS Awareness Week for the first time this year. O’Fallon is one of only two cities in the State of Illinois taking part in the celebration.
City staff has been working in conjunction with LaVerna Evans, Estelle Kampmeyer, and Delores Moye Elementary Schools as well as Southwestern Illinois College (SWIC) to develop an educational program for National Geography/GIS Awareness Week that complements their normal geography curriculums. Two GIS software programs, Arc Explorer and ArcPad, will be utilized to demonstrate the functionality and practicality of GIS software applications in everyday life. Students will be given a 15 minute presentation about geography in the United States with emphasis on different biomes located in our country. After the presentation, students will work with GPS equipment and take part in a navigation game hunt.
The goal of the program is to create more awareness about geography and to show that there is more to geography than what is called “place name geography”. Geography involves human geography, spatial analysis, physical geography, and geographical information systems (GIS), to name a few. Geography skills can be integrated into virtually every hobby, work or educational pursuit.
“I applaud O’Fallon schools and city staff for recognizing a need in our community and developing a program that will greatly benefit our youth,” said Mayor Graham.
Geography Awareness Week was established in 1987 when President Ronald Reagan signed the legislation designating the third week in November as Geography Awareness Week. Since the legislation was signed, approximately 1.5 million students have participated in geography-related events and activities.
In recent times, GIS Awareness activities have been added to the national week of recognition. GIS is a collection of computer hardware, software, and geographic data for capturing, managing, analyzing, and displaying all forms of geographically referenced information.
Please contact Sharie Heller at 624-4500, ext. 5 for further information on National Geography/GIS Awareness Week.
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Additional Information Contact:
Pamala L. Funk
Asst. City Administrator
624-4500, ext. 9-1112
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