GeoMentoring Is Not New
With the GeoMentor Program being introduced at the 2009 ESRI International User Confernence many people are seeing this as a new idea. Although to most it seem like new, it has been around for some time at the micro level. ESRI and National Geographic are bringing it to the international level. This got my curiosity up and decided to do some research. Here is what I have found:
GIS Day - This has been around but most events only happen during geography week.
Utah GIS Portal Mentoring Program - Been around for a few years. Allows GIS professionals to be catergorized by school district so techers can find and develop mentoring relationships.
Do You Want to Be a GIS Mentor? - Some points to consider from ArcOnline 2007.
GIS, other fields benefiting from MentorLinks (Community College Times)
Digital Quest - A company that has been around for several years that provides GIS teching materials to teachers. They created the STARS certification program which is recognized by NASA and the Department of Labor. One of their schools has been recognized nationally for their Homeland Security Program.
- How to Stop Terrorism? Begin in School (ABC News)
- School’s homeland security studies get noticed (USA Today)
GIS Educational Technology Consultants - A company that has been around for several years that provides GIS teacher training and materials.
GIS and Environmental Science for K-14 Teachers - The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation
GeoTech Center - Increasing the capacity of America’s high schools and colleges to provide an advanced technology education to our 21st Century geospatial industry workforce.
Barbaree Duke, Educational Consultant - A product of the ESRI Teachers Teching Teachers GIS (T3G) Institute
World Views - A consulting and professional development service to support students, teachers, school administrators, and districts with the integration of spatial technologies - GIS, GPS, and Remote Sensing - into the K-12 curriculum.
I know there is so much more information available, but this is a start. Hopefully you can see that this GeoMentoring thing is already being done. There is no reason why you shouldn’t be apart of the GeoMentor Program today!

July 22nd, 2009 at 3:54 pm
There is also the GITA Cheetahs program which connects young professionals and more seasoned professionals to aid in development. I’ve been looking at this program and I think it has some promise.
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
Thanks Laura for the info on GITA Cheetahs. Here is a link to the program - http://gita.org/resources/cheetahs/index.asp