When Todd Imholte signed on with a Hopkins, Minn. company that makes and sells wallpaper murals, he never guessed his job would have "global" impact for thousands of American school children. Yet once a year, Imholte, the president of Environmental Graphics, spearheads the updating of the company's top-selling product of all time - its World Map mural.

With input from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Defense, Imholte and his team update the map that is purchased as an educational aid by hundreds of schools, teachers and parents each year.

"Research by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that less than a third of all American eighth-graders are proficient at geography," Imholte points out. "Yet everyone agrees that our society continues to become increasingly 'global.' It's more important than ever for children to learn about world geography."

World geography can literally change from day to day. Governments fall and rise, wars ensue, country boundaries are redrawn and environmental influences like global warming, earthquakes, volcanic activity and other natural disasters affect human habitation. "The CIA and Department of Defense are the best sources for the most current geography information available," Imholte says.

And Imholte takes very seriously his company's responsibility to provide the most accurate map possible. "Since introducing this map, we have sold more than 100,000 copies to schools and parents across the country," he says. "Customers tell us that their kids like it that the map is big and colorful, and parents and teachers like its accuracy. And the great thing is it has a dry-erase surface to allow parents to help plan family trips and teachers to identify areas of interest based on current events."

The map is highly detailed, including land elevations, ocean depths, shipping lanes and time zones, as well as more traditional geographic information like political boundaries and major cities. Printing the topographical map in eight colors gives the mural a three-dimensional appearance.

"With this map in the room, you get very familiar with the world," says Nancy Webber, an instructor at West Charlotte High School in Charlotte, N. C. As chairperson of the Social Studies department, she's purchased several of the maps for her school district. She adds, "Even a student who has difficulty pointing out the locations of major countries can't miss them."

The Map is 8 feet, 8 inches high and 13 feet wide. Printed on heavy paper panels, the map has a dry-erase surface and a dry-erase marker is included with each map sold. The map is applied to the wall much like wallpaper by following easy instructions, which are included. The map height can be trimmed to fit low ceilings, and narrow walls can be accommodated by simply carrying the map over to an adjoining wall.