Staff writer
Marion High School students Patrick Hodson and Adam Moelleker are mapping Central Park, Marion, as a part of their computer-aided drafting class.
The two seniors’ schedule could not fit the regular period of teacher Roger Schwab’s CAD class, but both students showed an interest in engineering.
“For any student going into an engineering field this is a good beginning,” Schwab said. “Basically, we’re fitting them in so they get experience.”
Schwab goes over all the material from his class period in an accelerated work period. With the class work being completed earlier, Schwab has supplemented Hodson and Moelleker’s curriculum with another assignment.
The two students started plotting points Oct. 26 in Central Park. They used the landmarks in the park — for example the northwest corner of the main shelter house — and used an advanced GPS unit to give them the coordinates for latitude and longitude down to the second. A Marion resident temporarily donated the GPS unit.
After they plot pages worth of points, Moelleker and Hodson will calculate the coordinates using a complex math formula to give them distances, within a few feet of accuracy, between every object in the park.
“Kids don’t think you use math for designing things,” Schwab said. “You can’t get away from it.”
They will put this data into a mapping program and draw an exact map of Central Park.
The map will be used by Marion organizers including Marion Chamber of Commerce Secretary Margo Yates to plan events, giving coordinators the knowledge of exactly how much space is available for booths.
“I’ve done that before, estimating is not good.” Schwab said of organizing events. “In the end, you have some useful product.”
Yates and Judy Christensen, who set the map for booths for Art in the Park think the map will be a big help. Other groups also will benefit.
“It’s something we’ve needed for a long time,” Yates said.