A group photo of the three urban studies students with some Sulzberger middle school students and the teacher in a volunteer after-school computer lab.

These students could navigate their way around GIS software Arcview with ease. For them, creating a story with GIS maps of Philadelphia was second nature.

One project the students had completed was the overlaying a map of their neighborhood of West Philadelphia with another map of crime "hotspots". Community activists could use the GIS map to choose the most effective locations where citizen volunteers could monitor street activity, especially after school.