Beryl Builds Billerica

Beryl Reid has been busy. In August of 2009, Beryl (a.k.a. BerylDrue) traveled to our Boulder, Colorado office to become a Google Certified Teacher. Then in April of this year, she became a Supermodeler. She liked Boulder so much that she even came back to attend 3D Basecamp 2010 this past September. How much more involved with SketchUp could Beryl get? As it turns out, plenty.

Model of the Billerica Train Station

Though she’s a recently-retired computer teacher from Billerica Memorial High School (in Billerica, Massachusetts) Beryl is still actively involved with the school. This year, she was asked to give a SketchUp demo to the school’s new Introduction to Engineering class. The presentation was such a success that she was asked to return to teach the students more advanced modeling techniques that would ultimately help them geo-model their hometown.

We asked Beryl why she had decided to teach this geo-modeling workshop: “To me it was a chance to get Billerica on the 3D map for the benefit of all those kids who live there and love to explore Google Earth.... There is a lot of colonial history and buildings in the town.”

Workshoppin' at BMHS.

Mmmmm...cookies. And SketchUp gingerbread houses!

Build a model, get a shirt.

Beryl created the Billerica in 3D website to gather all of the workshop information together - the Billerica in 3D collection, building photos, and various resources and “how-to” guides. You can also check out more pictures from the workshop.

Posted by Nicole Drobeck, Geo Community Program Manager