Foundation recognized for educational partnership with local elementary school 

Herndon, Virginia (January 29, 2018)—Loudoun County Public Schools (LCPS) announced last week the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF) won a “Partners in Education” award for the Foundation’s partnership with Moorefield Station Elementary School in Ashburn, Va.

 USGIF partnered with Moorefield Station Elementary School in 2016 through the Loudoun School Business Partnership to promote geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) to students using activities that encourage skills in geography, spatial thinking, and critical thinking, while integrating them into the school’s curriculum. Since beginning the partnership, USGIF has led a variety of educational and interactive initiatives to include USGIF’s Intro to GEOINT presentation, activities using National Geographic’s Giant Traveling Map, a scavenger hunt with GPS units, exploring Esri’s ArcGIS software, and much more. Through these, USGIF has reached approximately 450 students at Moorefield Station, teaching them about GEOINT and its importance and application in the world.

 “USGIF is thrilled to receive this recognition for our K-12 outreach,” said Lindsay Mitchell, USGIF’s lead educational manager. “Moorefield was the first school we worked with to offer quarterly GEOINT activities, and it’s been incredibly rewarding to see the students get excited about GEOINT and the different career opportunities the field offers.”

 The Loudoun School Business Partnership promotes partnerships between Loudoun County Public Schools and local businesses to prepare K-12 students for future careers.

 “Each year, we have expanded the activities and opportunities for our students with this partnership,” said Karen Roche, principal at Moorefield Station Elementary School. “It started with the giant traveling map and one grade level, and now we have multiple grade levels working with USGIF. USGIF has worked with our teachers to develop lessons and activities that push our students to use critical thinking and 21st century skills to become collaborators and contributors to our world.”

 USGIF will accept the Partners in Education Award March 9 at LCPS’ annual Loudoun County Business Partnership breakfast. To learn more about USGIF’s K-12 program, please visit usgif.org/education/K-12.

 About USGIF

USGIF is a nonprofit educational foundation dedicated to promoting the geospatial intelligence tradecraft and developing a stronger GEOINT Community with government, industry, academia, professional organizations, and individuals who develop and apply geospatial intelligence to address national security challenges. USGIF achieves its mission via its strategic pillars: Build the Community | Advance the Tradecraft | Accelerate Innovation.

For more information, please visit www.USGIF.org and follow USGIF on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

CONTACT:

Lindsay Mitchell
Lead Educational Manager
United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation
571-392-7217
Email Contact