GGI Student StoryMap Competition

Eligibility: Louisiana students in grades 4–12 who are enrolled in public, private, charter, online, or homeschool settings. Entrants must not have received a high school diploma or equivalent by the submission date.
Individual or Team Entries: Students may compete alone or as part of a two-person team. Each student may only be part of one entry.

Teams with one middle school and one high school student will compete in the high school division.
Grade level (not school name) determines the division:

Teams from different schools must submit under one designated school.
Students can participate through their school, a club, an educational pod, or independently. However, entries must be submitted to the state through the student’s primary school of record—a recognized public, private, or home school.

How to Enter: Entry forms will be available in January 2026. Check back here then for an online entry form.
Project Format: Entries must be submitted as ArcGIS StoryMaps using current templates (standard or Briefing), not the deprecated “classic” templates.

Licensing Requirements: Students must use an ArcGIS School Bundle license and submit from an ArcGIS Online Organization account (not a public or developer account). Need access? Email support@ggi.education.
Content Requirements: Projects must focus on a Louisiana-specific topic. You may include outside data for context, but the core analysis must stay within state borders.
Submission Deadline: All entries must be submitted by 5:00 PM CT on Friday, April 24, 2026.

Prizes: 5 middle school and five 5 high school projects will each receive a $100 award.
Presentation Opportunities:

Awardees may be invited to present their StoryMaps at GIS Day, to local government bodies, or at community events.

Note: While GGI awards are limited, we strongly encourage schools and clubs to celebrate all participants—the learning itself is a reward.

Public Access: Entries must be publicly viewable (no login required) and stay accessible through June 2027.
Originality: All work must be original and completed during the 2025–26 school year.

AI tools (like ChatGPT or image generators) are not allowed.
Spell-check and grammar tools are fine.
Professional GIS data is permitted but must be cited.
Students may reuse limited content from previous projects but must clearly document what’s reused and how the new project goes further.

Because this is a map-centric competition, non-map visuals are limited:

Projects should be:

Focused: Have a clear question, story, or issue.
Well-researched: Use relevant, high-quality data.
Map-driven: Let the maps tell the story, not text or photos.
Interactive: Allow viewers to explore data themselves.
Well-presented: With thoughtful layout, clean design, and good cartography.
Documented: Cite sources and describe your process.
Strong entries: They help viewers quickly understand the topic and location; showcase spatial relationships, patterns, and analysis; use pop-ups effectively—concise, clear, and relevant; prioritize quality over quantity in maps and media.; follow best practices for design and storytelling.

Study winners: Review past national winners (Esri) and Louisiana winners (GGI) to see scope and quality.
Start with a problem: Go beyond “what’s where” to why it’s there and why it matters.
Be map-first: Keep entries analytical and map-centric; use text and photos sparingly.
Use media carefully: Cite any non-team images/videos; use them rarely. Avoid outbound links—these hurt in national judging.
Show student work: Professional GIS datasets are fine; the analysis and story should be yours.
Balance the experience: Viewers should spend more than half their time interacting with maps.
Make location obvious: Orient viewers fast—don’t make them zoom way out to find your study area.
Design for exploration: Interactive maps, clear flow, and a beginning-to-end story that holds attention.
Show patterns & relationships: Demonstrate “the science of where” without clutter or data overload.
Polish pop-ups: Short, relevant, well-formatted; include charts/images only if they add value. Skip long raw attribute lists.
Document well: Organize methods, sources, credits, and data clearly.

Need technical help?

Email us at support@ggi.education to get ArcGIS logins or troubleshooting help.

Personal Information: Teachers and students should minimize use of personally identifiable information (PII) in text, maps, or images. See this guide for best practices.
Permission Forms: GGI must receive a signed parental consent form for awardees in order to publish names or photos publicly.