will.i.am and i.am.angel Foundation Promote STEM Education Through GIS

Roosevelt High School students presenting their
GIS projects at the 2013 Esri User Conference.

We're at the Esri International User Conference this week and want to share with you two amazing presentations featuring will.i.am and the i.am.angel Foundation's work to integrate geographic information systems (GIS) with STEM education in the East LA neighborhood of Boyle Heights.

will.i.am at the 2013 Esri User Conference sharing his passion
for transforming his Boyle Heights neighborhood via STEM.

will's vision of transforming inner cities into desired places of living includes getting STEM tools into the hands of students at very young ages, and working with companies to invest in coding rooms instead of just basketball courts and football fields.

The first video ("STEM & GIS in Schools with Amber Case, Charlie Fitzpatrick, i.am.angel and Roosevelt High School," 19:24) shows four Roosevelt High School students and the local problems they visualized with GIS:

• The disparity between race, income, and education as described by Jonathan Kozol in his book Savage Inequalities: Children in America's Schools
• Access to parks ("We are a park poor community")
• The high level of visual pollution (excess advertising via billboards)
• The proximity of brownfields to students' residences

In the second video ("Special Guest will.i.am and Jack Dangermond," 39:30), will.i.am shares his passion to instill hope and bring real opportunity to neighborhoods like Boyle Heights, the Fifth Ward (Houston), and the Bronx.

To watch the videos, click here. You'll see the plenary videos listed in the center of the screen. Scroll down and look for the titles shown above. It's a bit of effort to find the videos, but worth it.

HealthLandscape is built on the Esri ArcGIS mapping platform. Contact us at info@healthlandscape.org to see how we can help you map your neighborhood.