When the Washington County, Florida School Borad met on Monday afternoon, March 28, 2022, they discussed plans for two potentially-funded VPK school facilities in the county.
With one potential site in Chipley and another in Vernon, the sites were recently aerially mapped by students in the Digital Video Technology Program at Florida Panhandle Technical College.
As seen in the accompanying maps, the FAA Part 107-compliant aerial photos were shot, from an elevation of just under 200 feet, and included in excess of 300 photos per location.
The photos were stitched together using state-of-the-art software, as taught by FPTC Instructor Paul Goulding.
‘This is really not cutting-edge technology any longer’, said Goulding. ‘We are already working with infrared cameras and other technologies which some of my students will eventually use in their drone-related businesses to assist the agriculture, construction, engineering and architectural communities’.
The effort is part of a program encompassing photo, video, audio, marketing and media along with the drone component, and it has been met with good response from the community and the local students.
‘We enjoy students this semester from Graceville, Cottondale, Holmes County, Poplar Springs, Vernon and Chipley’, said Goulding.
‘This group of students have documented the recent ‘Teacher of the Year’ event in Washington County, and they have taken over 500 headshot photos for the identification badge images of all Washington County School District personnel’.
Interested students currently in high school may attend the program at no net cost to parents, for half of each school day, as dual-enrolled students, and financial aid is available to adults.
Information about the photo, video, audio and drone components of the program is available at 850-638-1180, extension 317, or by emailing paul.goulding@fptc.edu.
