David Vialard

As an elementary school teacher, Vialard knows that providing practical, hands-on experiences for students helps them understand abstract concepts. His program, "Orienteering: Where Am I in Time and Place?", provides that knowledge by teaching abstract ideas in concrete terms. Orienteering is a sport involving the use of maps, compasses, and other tools to find points on a landscape. In addition to learning and understanding abstract concepts in math, science, social studies and physical education, students at River Oaks Elementary will gain skills in map reading, compass use, team building, geometry, and measurement conversion. The program's goal is to help students master such abstract concepts as customary/metric conversion, elapsed time, life science, topography and statistics through the integration of this unique teaching tool into the classroom environment. More than 100 fourth-grade students will create and maintain digital portfolios containing photos and videos of their orienteering adventures on a specially-created website. Vialard resides in Houston.