Monroe High School Senior Thomas takes second nationally in GIS story map competition

Monroe High School senior Zachery Thomas has certainly mapped out a course for his future. The Class of 2017 graduate took second place in the nation in the ArcGIS Online U.S. School Competition after he won the ESRI ArcGIS 2017 Map Michigan Competition. Thomas submitted the story-map project he completed while working on an internship with the Monroe County Planning Department through the GRACE (Geographic Information System Resources and Applications for Career Education) Project in conjunctions with Monroe Public Schools.

“Mr. (Russell) Columbus (Thomas’ teacher at Monroe High School) walked up behind me and put his phone in my face and it said, ‘Zach Thomas is the Michigan winner,” Thomas said. “It was pretty exciting.”

Thomas was first introduced to the world of mapping when Columbus held an informational meeting about a possible internship with County Planning. Columbus, who has been working towards building a partnership with ESRI, an international mapping technology company that is responsible for much of the Global Information System (GIS) technology used today, was excited at the prospect of getting this software in students’ hands.

“I had been building this partnership for years and years,” Columbus said. “These kids are given free access to the same professional training that pros are paying for. Our kids are getting it for free.”

The GRACE Project, sponsored by the National Science foundation, was developed by Eastern Michigan University and its partners as a strategy for expanding and disseminating technology-based education for STEM careers in K-12, and in the workplace by aligning the resources from multiple educational and community organizations.

After finishing the training, Thomas, along with sophomore Donoavan Vitale, as well as a few Middle College students, interviewed for two positions in the County Planning Department before the summer of 2016. The interview panel was so impressed by the students that all who interviewed were selected for internships. Two were selected to work with the River Raisin National Battlefield Park and Vitale and Thomas worked with the County Planning Department.

“Monroe Public Schools is so proud of Zach and Donovan and the other students,” Superintendent Julie Everly said. “These students took the initiative to invest their own time into this project and they ran with it and made the most of it. We are thankful for the partnerships with the County and for all of the work Russel Columbus put into this opportunity for our students.”

“They’ve been great,” said Jeff Boudrie,GIS Specialist for the County Planning Department. “They are two really good students. They have a good work ethic and positive can do attitude towards everything they do”

County Board Chairman J. Henry Lievens said, “This is a great partnership between our education systems at the high school and college level and the County. We are appreciative of the efforts these talented students have provided to the County and our friends at the National Battlefield Park. It is through collaborative efforts like these that we see the good things possible that enhance our community. We proudly support all of our student’s educational achievements.”

The students working with the County Planning Department focused their attention on geographic GIS parcel mapping in Exeter, London, and Ash Townships. Over the summer they were able to complete over 18 square miles of property mapping for the County. They learned about the Public Land Survey System and how to read and draw property descriptions using the property assessment records managed by the local assessors.

The students used a variety of technologies that included global positioning system (GPS) collection, web mapping and advanced desktop mapping software. To qualify and be eligible for the internship they had to complete and pass eight online classes and have strong math and computer skills.

After the students’ summer internships were up, the County Planning Department continued Thomas and Vitale’s internships due to the extraordinary work they completed.

“The County is pleased to provide a structured and beneficial work experience for these exemplary students. We, as a community organization are beneficiaries of the work Zach and Donovan have provided in building lasting contributions to our GIS mapping resources. We look forward to the continued partnerships for our local high school students to pursue STEM careers and in doing so, helping build advanced technology for County services,” said County Administrator Michael Bosanac.

Vitale and Thomas then submitted entries to the Map Michigan Contest. Vitale submitted some of his work plotting property mapping for Ash, Exeter, and London Townships, which outlines some of the problem-solving skills he learned as well as his advanced math skills. Vitale’s fourth-place finish won him $100.

Thomas’ entry focused on some of his work with the River Raisin Battlefield, taking users on an interactive tour of the park. After going into the field and collecting data, Thomas layered multiple maps to give users an easy-to-use experience of exploring the grounds. His entry was one place away from being recognized at a national convention in San Diego in July.

Before this internship, Thomas was unaware of this field. Now, the Monroe High School Top 100 Scholar plans to use the Emerald Scholarship he received to Eastern Michigan University to study mapping.

For Zach's story-map submission: http://arcg.is/2oXeDZT

For Donovan's story map submission: https://mhs-cad.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=38727cd8fc9b43908f3b38288e056c28