Louisiana Students Head to NASA’s Stennis Space Center

NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi recently welcomed four students from across the state of Louisiana to learn about careers in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) through the Global Geospatial Institute for Education.

The four participating students represented three schools: Cristo Rey Baton Rouge Franciscan High School, Hammond High Magnet School, and University View Academy. They heard from NASA, NVision, and the Naval Oceanographic Office about the career opportunities.

GIS professional Fran Harvey launched the initiative to help students get jobs after graduating. “Our industry partner Sigma Engineering went before the Workforce Investment Council and said ‘we will pay a high school student earning a GIS credential $17 an hour upon graduation.’ That added a lot of credibility to the program,” said Harvey.

“The program is a hybrid course, meaning it is self-paced,” shared  Students working with a textbook and data on their own. School facilitators, Harvey and a graduate assistant are available to help when participants run into data or need technical support.”

For more information about the Institute, visit gginstitute.org.