CALUMET – Over the summer, some Calumet High School students got some experience in real-world applications of digital technology, and Tuesday the Public Schools of Calumet, Laurium & Keweenaw Board of Education heard about the program.

MIke Roland, CHS computers teacher, said nine CHS students and two Houghton High School students took part in a National Science Foundation-funded program called GIS Resources and Applications Education, or GRACE, program. GIS, or Geographic Information System, is used to locate natural and structural features in a particular area.

The students were paid $10 per hour for the work they did on the project, Roland said.

Roland said the GRACE program was a collaboration between the school, the Keweenaw National Historical Park and Michigan Technological University.

Donald Lafreniere, Tech assistant professor of social sciences, said GIS is experiencing a significant growth, so having the GRACE program available for students is important.

“It’s a great opportunity for them to learn something about technologies, and to learn about their communities,” he said.

Lafreniere said the students used the GIS technology to create documents which show current structures and landscape features as well as what structures and features existed in the past at the same location. The students used historical documents and photographs to create the new documents.

“We did a lot in six weeks,” he said.

He and two students went to a GIS conference in Petoskey to show the work they did, and it impressed many of the conference attendees, Lafreniere said.

“Their presentations were very well received,” he said.

Jo Holt, KNHP historian, said the work the students did was helpful to the park, also.

“This project was really exciting for us at the park to work on,” she said.

The students created an up-to-date map of the park during the project, Holt said.

“Our visitors are excited about that,” she said. “The park staff is excited about that.”

Roland said having Tech and KNHP involved with the project was vital to making it successful.

“These two partners really took the bull by the horns,” he said. “They worked hard on the project, and they knocked it out of the park.”