Using GPS units and learning with GIS have engaged a group of Caribou High School and Caribou Technology Center students in some exciting real-world work for the 21st Century. Recently, as part of the proposed classroom activities for both the Central Aroostook Math and Science Partnership (CAMSP) funded by the Federal mathematics and Science Partnerships Programs (MSP/Title IIB), and the Caribou/UMPI Partnership for College Success project, funded by the Nellie Mae Education Foundation, two-well prepared GPS/GIS project workshops have successfully been conducted at Caribou High School and the University of Maine at Presque Isle GIS laboratory.

On November 30, 2007, UMPI intern and GIS Specialist, Mr. Bertrand Pelletier, Mr. Mike McCormack, Coordinator of the Partnership for College Success, and UMPI GIS professor, Dr. Chunzeng Want, conducted a GPS workshop at Caribou High School for a group of freshmen and seniors. They were very responsive to the sophisticated GPS technology. The collected data was later inputted into Excel spreadsheets by the students.

On December 6, 2007, the same group came to the UMPI GIS Laboratory to work with the collected data with ArcGIS to create an informational and geographical map-a visual representation of the collected coordinates. Students were fascinated with how their data was imported into GIS software to create visual maps.

More activities and projects have been planned for Caribou and other schools in Aroostook County during the second semester.