Since 1994, resident cartographer for Scholastic, Jim McMahon (aka Mapman) has been overseeing the Can You Find Mapman®? contest in Junior Scholastic®, a social studies magazine for students in grades 6–8.
Each year, students from around the world test their creative and critical-thinking skills by drawing a map based on a series of geography clues from Jim. Fun fact—in addition to working on the contest, Jim also creates the maps for all 32 Scholastic Magazines!
This year’s grand-prize winner is Vanessa Kim, a seventh-grade student from Romig Middle School in Anchorage, Alaska, who drew a map of Turkey utilizing colored pencils and markers. Vanessa’s elegant and boldly-designed map will be featured in an upcoming May 2019 issue of Junior Scholastic and online, here. In addition, Vanessa will receive $500 for her entry. The names of 25 runners-up will also appear in the issue, and they will each get a Mapman T-shirt.
About 4,500 entries from 45 states were submitted in this year’s contest. Jim and his wife Helen McMahon, a veteran New York City public school teacher, select all the winning maps.
Congratulations to Vanessa and all of this year’s participants. Look out for the Can You Find Mapman? contest in Junior Scholastic next year!
