Trailing History Ripton Students Use Technology to Map Local Paths

Author: Kelsey Rinehart

Through discussions, hikes and hands-on activities at the North Branch School in Ripton, Vt., seventh, eighth and ninth graders are blazing new trails.

Using Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units to chart the trails and roads and the computer program Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to create the maps, students have taken the first steps on a journey into their community's past.

The students and their teachers are working on a project for the Community Mapping Program, supported by the Vermont Institute for Natural Science (VINS) in Woodstock and the Ripton Conservation Commission.

By rediscovering old roadways and presenting their map to the Ripton community, the trailblazers hope not only to teach their town about its geographic past but also to create new avenues for recreation.

Eric Warren, a science teacher at the North Branch School, said that the original idea came from Barry King and her husband Warren King, who are on the Ripton Conservation Commission.

Warren, who is on the Planning Commission as well, noted the Commission's lack of current, accurate maps of Ripton's trails, and so began the project. Warren, from the North Branch School, noted that the project is still in its nascent stage. "We have not done much with the data yet. Our efforts have been on getting out on the trail," he explained.

The class has hiked about 12 different trails, including the Pearl Lee Road Extension ("which has been completely obscured through time," Warren said), the Skylight Pond Trail and the Burnt Hill Trail, among others. Students have kept data sheets and will use these to plot their data by hand and using GIS. They are now compiling a trail guidebook to Ripton.

As far as hiking goes, however, "We are on hold right now, during rifle season, and we are working on other subjects until we can get back to this project," Warren said. He assured, however, that even during the dead of winter the project would go on with the aid of snowshoes.

Inside, during science class, "all students have learned various mapping techniques, have worked with GPS units, have learned various coordinate systems and have begun maps and plans of our new school property," Warren said. This winter, students will start on GIS software, he continued.

So far, the students have been enthusiastic about the project. "They love the hiking. They consistently insist that we go out on the trail whatever the weather," Warren said. "The GPS units have been a hit - we have some students who have become particularly enthused about 'Geocatching,' a Web-based game using GPS units to find hidden caches on trails all over the world," he explained.

The Community Mapping Program, started in the spring of 1999, offers training and support in using GPS and GIS to students, teachers and local organizations, aiding geographic exploration in communities all over New England. GPS and GIS facilitate investigation into the terrain through the lens of time, place and sustainable systems.

In any given community, the Program typically joins up with members of the local historical society or conservation commission. Together, they guide students and teachers as they pinpoint local concerns, do fieldwork and draw up maps, aiding preservation and creating new opportunities for recreation and land use.

The Community Mapping Program, which has helped develop over 50 projects in Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Colorado, is a product of the Orton Family Foundation and the VINS.

The Orton Foundation, based in Rutland, is a nonprofit group whose mission is "helping citizens of rural America define the future, shape the growth and preserve the heritage of their communities." The Foundation explains on its Web site that the maps created through the Community Mapping Program "might include a community's swimming holes, sunset vistas, dairy farms and other special places where local people work and play."

The nonprofit organization VINS, founded in 1972, states on its Web site that it aims at "protecting Vermont's natural heritage through education and research." The VINS is a leading researcher and protector of "migratory songbirds, common loons, peregrine falcons and other threatened or endangered species" and has one of largest collections of live raptors - hawks, eagles, falcons and owls - in North America.

The Community Mapping Project is part of the VINS's collaboration with educators at six Vermont schools and several high schools in the Yampa Valley region of Colorado. Students and their teachers from both states will complete the project simultaneously, using the Web site www.communitymap.org to share their findings.

Students are greatly aided by the Ripton Conservation Commission's involvement in the project through the Commission's expertise in field biology and field interpretation. The Commission teaches students how to conduct real research and use their findings to draw up maps.

The maps created through the cooperation of students and the Commission will allow the Ripton Planning Commission to conduct a Town Plan revision.

"By the end of the year," Warren stated, "our goal is to cover all of the major trails in the town of Ripton - it is ambitious, but we seem to be getting through it."

Warren said that while the project has certainly been valuable, "as it is the first time I have taught it, there has been a big learning curve as far as making our time productive." He thinks the students have gained a lot from the project. "They like the idea that they are doing something which will actually be used to help the local community."