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Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC
Illinois Geographic Alliance, Elevating Geography Education logo

Dedicated to the Teaching of Geography in the State of Illinois

Our purpose is the promotion and enhancement of geographic knowledge in the schools and among the general populace of Illinois. To achieve this purpose, the Alliance maintains a strong grassroots organization of geographic educators from schools and universities, participates in educational reform at the district, state, and national levels. We engage in an active program of preservice and in-service teacher education, develop curriculum materials based on the National Geography Standards, and foster public awareness of the importance of geography in our society.

News and Events

Summer 2025 IGA Virtual Workshops for Educators

Free, Virtual IGA Summer 2025 WORKSHOP #1 - Food for Thought: Resources for Teaching the Geography of Food, Wednesday, June 18, 2025, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. using Zoom

The Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) at Illinois State University and the Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC) are pleased to offer a half-day (8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.), virtual workshop on teaching the geography of food. Sessions will focus on teaching different aspects of the geography of food and providing resources for educators to incorporate in their classroom (e.g., websites, interactive maps and mapping, and activities). The workshop includes breakout sessions presented by experienced geography educators.

The half-day workshop is broken into three sessions. The first session will provide an overview of the geography of food and connect it to the practice of asking geographic questions and developing geographic skills. The second and third sessions will include hands-on activities that can be used for teaching agriculture and mapping food deserts and swamps, respectively. Additional time is scheduled during the workshop for participants to meet in groups to discuss the sessions, identify ways they might apply it to their own teaching, and ask questions.

Workshop facilitators include:

  • Gillian Acheson, Professor, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Edwardsville, Illinois)
  • Amy Wilkinson, IPO Coordinator and Director, Illinois Tutoring Initiative at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Edwardsville, Illinois) and former Director for the Teaching with Primary Sources Project at SIUE
  • Stacy Brown-Amilian, Professor, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Edwardsville, Illinois)
  • Susan Hume, Professor, Department of Geography and Geographic Information Sciences at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (Edwardsville, Illinois)

The workshop is free and will be conducted virtually over Zoom from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 18, 2025.

In-service and pre-service educators at all levels (PreK-16) are welcome. You do not need to be a member of the Illinois Geography Alliance, LLC (IGA) to participate in the workshop.

Participants will receive a $50 stipend, a certificate of completion, and 3.75 PD hours (CPDUs) for successful completion of the workshop.

Please register online by Monday, June 16, 2025. Space is limited. (Note: A registration confirmation will be emailed to you immediately after you successfully submit your online registration form. In addition, the Zoom link for the workshop will be emailed to you the day prior to the workshop, so please check that your email address is correct when completing the online registration form.)

Questions about the workshop can be emailed to the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC at iga@illinoisstate.edu.

 

Free, Virtual IGA Summer 2025 WORKSHOP #2 – Introduction to National Geographic’s MapMaker, Monday, June 30, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. using Zoom

The Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) at Illinois State University and the Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC) are pleased to offer a one-day (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), virtual workshop that will introduce participants to National Geographic’s MapMaker, an easy-to-use, online website that can be used by students and teachers to create online maps for a variety of topics. Unlike ArcGIS Online, MapMaker does not require online student accounts! Participants will learn the basics of MapMaker through hands-on exercises while also exploring ideas for how maps created in MapMaker may be incorporated into their teaching. In-service and pre-service K-16 educators from any discipline are welcome to attend the workshop. No prior experience with MapMaker or mapping/GIS is needed. The workshop will expand on topics covered in previous mapping/GIS workshops offered by the IGA.

The goal of the workshop is to provide participants with mapping concepts and lesson plan ideas for integrating MapMaker into their existing curriculum. The workshop will provide step-by-step instructions for using MapMaker in the classroom.

Workshop facilitators include:

  • John Kostelnick, Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment at Illinois State University and Co-coordinator of the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC
  • Judith Bock, GIS Educator

The workshop is free and will be conducted virtually over Zoom from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Monday, June 30, 2025.

Participants need access to a desktop or laptop computer (PC or Mac). Instructions will be provided for accessing MapMaker.

In-service and pre-service educators at all levels (PreK-16) are welcome. You do not need to be a member of the Illinois Geography Alliance, LLC (IGA) to participate in the workshop.

Participants will receive a $100 stipend, a certificate of completion, and 5.25 PD hours for successful completion of the workshop.

Please register online by Monday, June 16, 2025. Space is limited. (Note: A registration confirmation will be emailed to you immediately after you successfully submit your online registration form. In addition, the Zoom link for the workshop will be emailed to you the day prior to the workshop, so please check that your email address is correct when completing the online registration form.)

Questions about the workshop can be emailed to the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) at iga@illinoisstate.edu.

 

Free, Virtual IGA Summer 2025 WORKSHOP #3 – Introduction to ESRI’s Survey123, Tuesday, July 1, 2025, 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. using Zoom

The Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) at Illinois State University and the Geographic Society of Chicago (GSC) are pleased to offer a one-day (9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.), virtual workshop that will introduce participants to Survey123, a mobile app that can be used by students for mapping and data collection in the outdoors that can be used to create web maps in ArcGIS Online. Participants will learn the basics of Survey123 through hands-on exercises while also exploring ideas for how outdoor mapping and data collection with Survey123 may be incorporated into their teaching. In-service and pre-service K-16 educators from any discipline are welcome to attend the workshop. No prior experience with ArcGIS Online, Survey123, or mapping/GIS is needed. The workshop will expand on topics covered in previous mapping/GIS workshops offered by the IGA.

The goal of the workshop is to provide participants with concepts for integrating outdoor mapping and data collection with Survey123 into their existing curriculum. Attendees will learn key principles using ESRI’s Survey123. The workshop will also cover steps for acquiring Survey123 and other free ESRI GIS software for use in the classroom.

Workshop facilitators include:

  • John Kostelnick, Department of Geography, Geology, and the Environment at Illinois State University and Co-coordinator of the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC
  • Judith Bock, GIS Educator

The workshop is free and will be conducted virtually over Zoom from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday, July 1, 2025.

Participants need access to a desktop or laptop computer (PC or Mac) and a mobile phone. Instructions will be provided for accessing Survey123.

In-service and pre-service educators at all levels (PreK-16) are welcome. You do not need to be a member of the Illinois Geography Alliance, LLC (IGA) to participate in the workshop.

Participants will receive a $100 stipend, a certificate of completion, and 5.25 PD hours (CPDUs) for successful completion of the workshop.

Please register online by Monday, June 16, 2025. Space is limited. (Note: A registration confirmation will be emailed to you immediately after you successfully submit your online registration form. In addition, the Zoom link for the workshop will be emailed to you the day prior to the workshop, so please check that your email address is correct when completing the online registration form.)

Questions about the workshop can be emailed to the Illinois Geographic Alliance, LLC (IGA) at iga@illinoisstate.edu.

 

NCGE Launches GeoCircles

The National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE) has launched GeoCircles, a free, monthly, virtual PD opportunity for geography educators that is facilitated by geography educators. For more information and to view the upcoming schedule, please visit https://ncge.org/professional-development/geoed-circles/.

 

Explore GeoCivics

Electoral redistricting is a nonpartisan topic that keeps communication lively and cuts across geographic areas and political perspectives. Explore resources from GeoCivics https://geocivics.uccs.edu/ including online redistricting puzzles, tools for mapping your community, and explanations of redistricting criteria. For an overview, check out this video

Resources for Illinois: https://geocivics.uccs.edu/stateresources/illinois

Questions? Don’t hesitate to contact Rebecca Theobald at geocivics50@gmail.com. Please share, as the more you and your communities engage with redistricting, the more voices will be represe