Category: Youth Mapping Program

The Youth Mapping Program November Map of the Month is Gold Trail School in Cold Springs, CA.

This map is used to teach fifth-grade students about geography, map reading, and orienteering. Since then, the school has had a map made of a bordering property to create even larger courses. Eventually, the goal is to teach older students to use Purple Pen to plan courses for younger students. 

“The best outcome is having the ability to run my own orienteering events on my school campus. I do not have to depend on others or get permission from Admin to take a field trip. Additionally, having my own map allows me to make progressively more challenging courses as my students’ skills improve.”

Are you interested in flexing your cartography skills and joining the growing team of YMP mappers? Sign up here. 

The Youth Mapping Program October Map of the Month is Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart in Bellevue, WA.

Forest Ridge School’s orienteering program encourages students to work as a team and keeps students learning and exploring the campus, both during the school year and over the summer.

Are you interested in flexing your cartography skills and joining the growing team of YMP mappers? Sign up here. 

The Youth Mapping Program September Map of the Month is Auburndale Park in Newton, MA. This map was created in 2020 for use in youth and adult orienteering classes.  

“I learned so much from this process that it helped me better understand orienteering…The more people orienteering, the better!” said Recreation Manager Channon Ames.

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

The Youth Mapping Program August Map of the Month is of Black Hills State University in Spearfish, SD. This map is used in classes for Outdoor Education students and in classes for general Physical Education students. In the future, the university plans to share this map with local ROTC and scout groups.

According to Outdoor Education professor Chris McCart, this map is “user-friendly. It gives credibility to our program.”

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

The Youth Mapping Program July Map of the Month is Abington Friends School in Jenkintown, PA. Since this map was made in 2020, it has been used consistently by many teachers across age groups and in varied subjects.

“Several of our class have used it for math classes, and for discovery/history of our campus classes. It can be used by any class, and it’s an asset to every division, K-12. It’s fabulous!”

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

The Youth Mapping Program May Map of the Month is Abrams Park in Ridgefield, WA.

This map was created for the city of Ridgefield. Since then, the city has hosted orienteering events and Boy Scout trainings in the park, and even installed a permanent orienteering course!

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

The Youth Mapping Program April Map of the Month is Lexington Montessori School in Lexington, MA. This map was created in 2021 and is still being used extensively!

This course was first used for an 11-week orienteering course for middle school students, and has since been used for a shorter Intro to Orienteering course for younger students, to teach general map skills, to map noteworthy trees for an outdoor education project, and even to map sugar maples for tapping!

“We love being able to use the woods and fields in a more deliberate way. It adds visual-spatial learning to the outdoor experience and gives us a new purpose for outdoor activities.”

Interested in having a map made of your school? Learn more about the program and apply here.

The Youth Mapping Program March Map of the Month is MetroWest YMCA Outdoor Center in Hopkinton, MA. This map was created in 2021 and is still being used extensively!

The YMCA’s summer camps introduce as many as 650 youth per day to orienteering. They also use the map for hiking, geocaching, and to teach basic map-reading skills. In addition to their own programming, MetroWest YMCA has partnered with local scout troops to utilize their orienteering course and with the New England Orienteering Club, who use the space for their large annual Intro to Orienteering event!

“It has certainly been a huge asset that greatly benefits our ability to serve the community and engage youth into outdoor education,” said Adventure and Outdoor Ed Director Tyler Reynolds.

Have you received a map from OUSA’s Youth Mapping Program? We want to hear how you’re using it! Let us know here.