A group of Turners Falls [Massachusetts] High School students used GIS to map and describe various aspects of their community such as population, industries, and environmental changes. It gave them an opportunity to see and appreciate where they live in a new way. In addition, they saw the value of this information and how it could be used by those involved with planning, economic development, and environmental protection.
Read the complete article in The Republican, by Cori Urban.

The project was part of ESRI’s Community Atlas program that promotes geographic learning and community involvement. Below is one of the maps the students created.

"Student Population

We examined population density by age, and how that related to the placement of public schools. Throughout the area, school districts have been discussing ways to save money by closing schools, and we wanted to find out if the schools in our area were in areas close to school age children. (Schools are marked with a yellow dot.)

Some members of the community have also wondered if two elementary schools (Sheffield and Hillcrest) so close together makes sense. We looked at our map, and found that those two schools serve a larger population than Gill, Montague Center or Erving schools. Therefore, having two schools, in close proximity to a center of student population (Turners Falls) does make sense. "

See the complete Turner Falls project.