Bigfork students take lead in tech education

Hans Bodenhamer has a vision for the future. 

Where agencies like Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks or the Forest Service develop partnerships with schools, allowing students to learn, by doing real-world work.

Thanks to a grant from the Plum Creek Foundation, Bodenhamer will be able to come one step closer to that goal.

Bodenhamer teaches Geographic Information Systems at Bigfork High School and Middle School. 

The $3,500 grant from Plum Creek will enable Bigfork’s GIS program to acquire five new laptops to run the program, and create a mobile lab, which they will take around Montana to teach other educators and students about GIS.

GIS is a computerized system for storing and analyzing data that is spatially referenced to the earth. It is one of the top programs being used in industry and business, Bodenhamer said, and is used in wildlife biology, engineering, forestry, city planning and marketing.

There aren’t many high schools that teach GIS as it’s a not obvious where the course belongs.

“It’s difficult to figure out where to put it because it’s so non-traditional,” Bodenhamer said. “But it’s real world. It’s a model of education I really like.”

Bodenhamer has taught GIS at Bigfork Schools for about five years. The high school classes evolved out of his work with GIS in the Bigfork Cave Club, which earned the students national recognition for their work.

Bodenhamer likes to teach the program by putting students straight into a project where they will need to utilize GIS.

“We throw kids into the project,” he said. “I think it’s doing and learning by accident.”

Bigfork GIS students have partnered with numerous state agencies on projects, doing work with GIS that agencies would like to be do, but lack the funding and staff to realistically accomplish.

They worked the Forest Service to analyze dispersed recreation sites in the Jewel Basin to help guide recreation management in the area. They partnered with the Montana Department of Transportation to develop a map that illustrates road-kill densities and distribution on Montana highways over 11 years. The data gathered helps the state determine where placement of wildlife crossings should be.

Part of the reason Bodenhamer feels like this kind of hands on education with GIS is important is because students are able to understand why they are learning these things. They are motivated to work hard on the projects knowing they will be used outside of school. 

Bodenhamer hopes that by teaching the program to other educators, GIS courses will find a place in school curriculum. He anticipates that could facilitate more partnerships between agencies where students can get learning experiences and the agencies are able to accomplish more with their diminished budgets.

There are two eight-hour workshops being planned where Bodenhamer and students will give interested teachers a lesson in GIS.

The first will be at the Swan Ecosystem Center, and the second will be put on through the Montana Environment Education Association.

“I know there are folks interested in this training,” Bodenhamer said. And while the program can be a bit mind-boggling at first, the training should help get teachers started. 

“It’s not unthinkable for teachers to jump in and learn all of this,” he said. “I hope I get some other colleagues involved through this training.”

While the program costs about $10,000 it is currently being offered for free to all public schools.