IMSOCIO

Community Mapping and the Safe Routes to School Initiative

Throughout the country, community mapping is being used to supplement the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Initiative in order to make the experience and the results easy to understood. SRTS began with the goals of fostering community involvement and creating a safer and healthier environment. By encouraging locals to go out and assess the quality of their walking or biking routes, it is possible to raise awareness about community issues, forge stronger bonds between members, and create a means for education on healthful habits.
Community mapping in this process adds another interactive dimension to Safe Routes to School. Participants are able to take their surveying a step further by inputting their data onto a map using GIS technology to get a visual representation of their hard work.

This added accessibility to the results is also crucial because the data can be shown to anyone at any time, creating a permanent and tangible resource for parents and township officials.

The interactive map is easy to update, allowing community members to become aware of any improvements made to the walking conditions with the simple click of a mouse. Parents can continually reassess the safety of the routes to school. Township officials can also have a virtual “checklist” of areas that need improvement and can keep citizens informed on the maintenance they have been working on to make their towns safer and healthier.

Come join IMSOCIO on Saturday, September 10, 2011 for a Community Mapping event in Somerset, NJ! The event will be held from 10:00 am- 3:30 pm and all participants will meet at Pine Grove Manor Elementary School 130 Highland Avenue in Somerset to survey and map the safety and cleanliness of walking routes to school. For more information, visit us at http://www.imsocio.org/srtsinfo.

**RAIN DATE: In the event of rain on Saturday, September 10, this project will be rescheduled for the next Saturday, September 17. Please check http://www.imsocio.org/srtsinfo to confirm that the event is still taking place any time after 8:00 am on September 10th!**

IMSOCIO is an organization that was created through the partnership between SOCIO, Scholars Organizing Culturally Innovative Opportunities, and Dr. Wansoo Im of Vertices, LLC. IMSOCIO aims to encourage the academic progress of Hispanic high school students in Franklin Township by providing the support and resources necessary to facilitate their progression to higher education.
 

Located in Somerset, New Jersey, Franklin High School is home to the Warriors and the Spanish Club.  The Spanish Club boasts over thirty members and is known for its dancing and empanadas.  However, during the 2010-2011 school year, SOCIO, led by Enrique Noguera, Jon Robles, and Jose Bueno, began to expand its focus.  Spanish Club adviser, Nathaly Bracamonte, decided to provide SOCIO with the opportunity to be part of the Franklin High School family.  Spanish Club students began to share their meetings with SOCIO and learn what they were all about.  Events were held and both clubs gathered to celebrate together.  The goal for both clubs was to give students the opportunities they needed to attend college.  Many students in Spanish Club were not motivated or were under-informed about their options and potential. But with the support of SOCIO, students began exerting more effort and practicing for tests, including the SAT.  The impact that SOCIO was making became quite obvious.

The goal has now evolved for SOCIO and entails giving Spanish Club students, now also SOCIO members, the confidence they need to succeed in life.  It is possible for Latinos to overcome the social obstacles put before them and go to college.  Any student can achieve success if they TRY.