The Lone Star College-Montgomery land surveying and mapping technology program, in partnership with the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors, will host a High School Educators Retreat for area teachers and technical/career counselors June 16-18, 2009, at the college. The retreat is free of charge to the participants, who will receive CEUs for their profession, portable GPS units to use in their classrooms, examples of lesson plans for educational activities, and a $150 stipend.
The High School Educators Retreat is designed to provide high school teachers and career/ technology counselors with materials and information to enhance their curriculum and career programs by familiarizing them with the knowledge and applied skills common to the profession of land surveying. This activity will most benefit those who teach high school math, science, geography and history.
Participants will gain increased awareness of the technical skills necessary to succeed in the field of land surveying and will learn about the career field as a viable profession. They will be provided with guidance in how to incorporate applied skills into their lesson plans to better prepare high school graduates for entering college-level surveying and mapping technology programs. Participating educators will also be able to network with their peers while gaining important industry contacts.
Professionals with experience in the field of land surveying are welcome to participate as volunteers. As volunteers, surveying professionals will be provided the opportunity to communicate to teachers their love of the profession and the need to ensure quality personnel.
“Assisting with the High School Educators Retreat offers those of us in the surveying profession an opportunity to share experiences and knowledge with educators who in turn will share those thoughts with countless others,” said George Griffith, a project manager with Babcock Eagleton and an advisory board member for the land surveying program. “Volunteering gives us the opportunity to push the first domino and who knows where that effort will stop?”
The land surveying and mapping technology program prepares students to enter a high-tech profession that uses state-of-the-art equipment to determine the exact location and measurement of points, lines, and contours of the earth’s surface as a land surveying technician. Students entering the program may earn a workforce skills certificate or an associate of applied science degree. Currently, LSC-Montgomery has three articulated programs through the LSC-University Center that enable a smooth transition for students wishing to go on to earn a bachelor’s degree in the field.
For more information regarding the retreat or the land surveying and mapping technology program, please contact Roger McDonald, program director, at roger.mcdonald@lonestar.edu or (936) 271-6179.
LSC-Montgomery is located at 3200 College Park Drive, one-half mile west of Interstate 45, between Conroe and The Woodlands. For more information about the college, call (936) 273-7000, or visit Montgomery.LoneStar.edu.
Lone Star College System consists of five colleges, including CyFair, Kingwood, Montgomery, North Harris, and Tomball, six centers and Lone Star College-University Center. With more than 51,000 students, it is the largest college system in the Houston area, and third largest community college district in Texas. For more information, visit http://www.lonestar.edu/.