Manchester, VT – The Orton Family Foundation is very pleased to announce, as the culmination of a six-year “seed and launch” strategy, that the Foundation's award-winning Community Mapping Program will move to the Institute for Technology Development (ITD), a Mississippi-based nonprofit research institute affiliated with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Building on the Foundation's work to design and implement this place-based youth education program—newly renamed CMaP—ITD will apply its background in technology and product development to dramatically expand the program's reach to youth and communities across the country.
CMaP is a field-tested, teacher-evaluated program that represents a $1.5 million investment by the Foundation. The successful transfer of CMaP to ITD is the result of a six-year Foundation initiative to seed and launch programs and tools that help educate and engage people in sustainable land use planning. “ITD provides the ideal environment in which CMaP can grow and, through the application of cutting-edge technologies, foster deeper connections between students and their communities,” says Bill Roper, Orton's Director of Planning Action. “For the Foundation, this move marks the successful launch of CMaP to an entirely new level of access and impact.”
Classrooms and after-school programs like 4-H are currently integrating Community Mapping projects into curricula and community-service initiatives in eight states. Under the continued leadership of Connie Knapp, who has left the Foundation to join ITD, CMaP will build on the solid foundation of practices and principles outlined in Making Community Connections (ESRI Press 2003), a program handbook authored by Knapp on behalf of the Foundation. “This exciting move will allow us to reach a wider audience of youth than ever before and provide them with the support and resources needed to carry out projects essential to their communities and to their own growth and education,” says Knapp.
Dr. George May, ITD's President and CEO, sees CMaP as a proven vehicle for inspiring in young people an appreciation for the transformative power of technology. “Through CMaP, students not only learn about technologies like GIS and remote sensing, but they learn how to apply them for the betterment of their communities and the society as a whole.”
For more information about CMaP, contact Connie Knapp at cknapp@iftd.org or Matt Bethel at mbethel@iftd.org. More information about CMaP and the Institute for Technology Development can be found on their website at www.iftd.org.