We went to a training class at the beginning of the year with Karen and the rest of the teachers at Waterville. It went from 3:30(4:ish)- 7:30ish. We learned all about the technology and what each utensil was and how the inside of the machine worked. Also, we had to learn about each of the programs on the computer. It, was cool being able to learn about little tricks you can use (ex. Ctrl+z, ctrl+a). It is a very interesting class to take and we got paid minimum wage to help with this class.

This is a picture of all of the mentors with Dan and Karen, at the beginning of the year. They were explaining to us the responsibility’s we would have as a mentor. We also signed up for the projects that best fit our interests.

Jessica:The pictures above are pictures of a few of the mentors at work. Our responsibilities as mentors include; working with the students on the maps and filed guide pages, helping the teachers with technology, and making sure we are in the right room doing the right assignment at the right time.

We have been able to do some projects to help our community.
The city of Waterville wanted maps made showing all the trees on public property so two students made those last year on ArcView. Now the high school science class is adding tress found on private property. This will help track disease and insects.
We work with the BLM at Douglas Creek to do photo points. Photos of the same area taken over time will help us see changes in the creek and riparian area.
Elizabeth
The 6th grade is working with the conservation district and local farmers to see if they can control weeds by planting native wildflowers along some roadways.
Another of our recent projects is making farm field atlases for local farmers.
Another of our recent projects is making farm field atlases for local farmers.

I’ve worked on atlases for 3 different farmers. We have to meet with the farmer and find out exactly what he wants in his book. Then we locate each of his fields on the ArcView map, isolate it in a different color and export each field in a close-up view and as part of the entire farm. We then have to put the pictures into a ppt and add all the information the farmer requested. That might include the name and address of the landlord, the number of acres, the legal description, the driving directions, the farm name, and the common name of the field. It’s a lengthy process, but they do pay us and it’s very satisfying when you are finished. Two other students have been working on this as well and we have more books ordered.