American Geographical Society Announces Launch of New AGS AP Teacher Fellows Program

Description:  The “AGS AP Teacher Fellow” program has been launched with sponsorship from Boundless to bring AP Human Geography teachers to the AGS annual Symposium in November 2016.   

 — The American Geographical Society (AGS) announced today the launch of its “AGS Advance Placement (AP) Teacher Fellow” program. This new undertaking is made possible by a generous grant from Boundless, a leading provider of open source geospatial software and services. The grant will underwrite the registration cost and will provide an opportunity for professional development for AP Human Geography teachers by inviting them to participate in one of the most important geography events in North America, The AGS Fall Symposium.

The AGS Fall Symposium brings together leaders in business, government, science and education who might not otherwise have the opportunity to interact, and provides opportunities for discussion, debate, and collaboration to further the understanding of how geography is going to shape the future of our world. Past Fall Symposiums have been received with great acclaim and this year will include the people on the front line of training and inspiring future geographical leaders; the teachers. Funding for this program, by Boundless, will give AP Human Geography teachers a unique opportunity to interact and become one of the nation’s thought leaders who are involved in the multi-year dialogue about the future of geography.

“We are very pleased that the new AGS Advancement Placement Geography Teachers Fellows Program will be able to begin this year,” noted Dr. John Konarski, Executive Director of the American Geographical Society.  “Public policy experts widely agree that geographical education in the United States is one of the most critical educational commitments we, as a nation, must make immediately…geography and geospatial analysis/tools permeate virtually every aspect of our lives and the ones who know this best are the teachers and students in our schools across the nation”, Dr. Konarski added.  “This new AGS project will give the leading AP geography teachers a place at the table as they meet with the country’s geo-spatial experts to help lead the efforts to provide excellence in geographical literacy”.

“Boundless is honored to help sponsor this program as part of the AGS Fall Symposium”, said Mr. Anthony Calamito the Chief Technology Officer of Boundless. “We are fully committed to geography education and the AGS mission of promoting geographic literacy across the globe,” said Mr. Calamito.

The AGS Fall Symposium will be held on November 17 and 18 of 2016, at Columbia University in New York City. Teachers will be able to apply for the AGS AP Teacher Fellow program beginning May 1st 2016 on the AGS website at www.americangeo.org. Teachers must be currently teaching the AP Human Geography Course, and will be required to provide a letter of endorsement from their principal.

Established in 1851, the American Geographical Society (AGS) is the oldest professional geographical organization in the United States. It is recognized world-wide as a pioneer in geographical research and education in geography for over 163 years.  The mission of AGS is to advance geographic knowledge and the recognition of its importance in the contemporary world.  AGS promotes the use of geography in business, government, science, and education with a goal to enhance the nation’s geographic literacy to engender sound public policy, national security, and human well-being worldwide.  AGS is the only organization focused on bringing together academics, business people, those who influence public policy (including leaders in local, state and federal government, not-for-profit organizations and the media), and the general public for the express purpose of furthering the understanding of the role of geography in our lives.  AGS provides leadership to frame the national discussion of the growing importance of geography and geo-spatial tools.  The Society maintains its headquarters in Brooklyn Heights, New York.

Since 2002, Boundless has been a leader in the development and support of powerful software for enterprise Spatial IT applications. They provide platforms for managing data, building maps and applications designed for bringing spatial information into modern workflows. The experts at Boundless reduce the cost and time of deploying and managing spatial software with packaging, support, maintenance, professional services, and expert training. Their mission is to be the global leader in design, customization and deployment of geo-spatial maps, applications, context and data.