Hoover High students help map their neighborhood

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) students at Hoover High are working with real-life clients to map the most used routes by students to walk and bike to school compared with those that get the most car traffic. Their findings will be used by KTU+A, a firm seeking to improve the corridors in City Heights in terms of storm water treatment and increasing bicycle and pedestrian activity in City Heights. The student maps are part of a project called City Heights Urban Greening that KTU+A is working on for the City of San Diego. GIS is one of the electives in Hoover High School’s Academy of Information Technology (AOIT).

 Hoover AOIT students have been working with the City of San Diego on GIS projects for several years. In 2010, the students participated in a community service project to create a more walkable neighborhood. Part of the Health Equity by Design grant from Walk San Diego, the project encouraged walking in City Heights by making the community a safer, more enjoyable place. The students used GPS units to collect data for use on a GIS map. Impressed by the students’ work, organizers asked them to participate in a presentation on sidewalk improvements to the City Heights Redevelopment Project Area Committee.

The AOIT at Hoover was established in 2003. Students voluntarily join the academy through a recruitment process. Students enroll in elective courses in Web Architecture, Social Media Marketing, Technical Support Services, GIS, and Multimedia. Teachers plan together across the curriculum to work in teams and create technology driven projects which emphasize core content knowledge in a standards driven curriculum. This integrated approach to curriculum often uses project based learning strategies to motivate students through authenticity and relevancy.

A California Partnership Academy, AOIT is funded by a grant from the California Department of Education. The California Partnership Academy model is a three-year program (grades 10-12) structured as a school-within-a-school. Academies incorporate integrated academic and career technical education, business partnerships, mentoring, and internships.

Watch a KPBS story that focuses on this project. For more information about the Academy of Information Technology at Hoover High, contact Angie Kania at akania@sandi.net or use this link: http://aoit.hooverhi.org/