Mrs. Hogan’s sixth grade social studies class at Milkovich Middle School in Maple Heights thought they were working on a simple assignment learning how to use maps, but what started out as a simple assignment turned into a major project involving business letters, calls to publishing companies, and speaking with cartographers in Canada.
A cartographer is a person who draws or produces maps.
This week’s A+ Award goes to Mrs. Hogan’s social studies class at Milkovich Middle School for finding an error on a map and taking the steps to get it fixed!
Ava told us that it all started with a simple assignment. The students were supposed to find locations in their community, and then give directions from that location to the school. Micha’el explained that the assignment required them to use relative location, the compass rose, cardinal and ordinal directions, and latitude and longitude. That’s when they figured out that some of the schools and parks in Maple Heights had incorrect names or locations! Ya’laya told us that they identified a total of eight errors on the map.
Dream and Edward told us that once they identified the errors, the group decided that they had to do something. After some research, they learned that the cartographers responsible for the map were based in Canada. They wrote a business letter to alert them of the errors. Royal explained that they wanted the letter to have a friendly tone and to be professional.
The cartographers responded and told the map-correcting Mustangs that the maps would be corrected and reprinted in 2023. They even sent along maps of the world and the Greater Cleveland area as a thank you!
A’mani told us that she felt really good about helping out and was really surprised that the cartographers sent maps as a thank you. Christopher told us that when you’re working on something, it’s always important to focus on the details so that you can do the best job possible.
NewsDepth isn’t the only group honoring this group of Mustangs! Their work is also being honored by the Ohio House of Representatives.Their Representative Darnell T. Brewer, who represents the 18th District, which is where Maple Heights is located, told us that "we in District 18 are extremely proud of this class for 'shining a light", and finding the error in the Rand McNally Road map, and the courage to speak up to make the correction. This type of initiative will hopefully inspire other students to come, and show they, too, have a voice and are valued within the education world".
This week’s A+ Award goes to Mrs. Hogan’s sixth grade social studies class for helping to correct errors on a map of their community.
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