[NMScience] FW: National Parks Seek Teacher Rangers

[Ellen Loehman]

From: "U.S. Department of Education's Teacher Initiative"
<Teachers at westat.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2008 13:16:05 -0500
Subject: National Parks Seek Teacher Rangers

National parks enrich the lives of many in this nation. They provide
access to the powerful ideas, values, and meanings associated with the
remarkable cultural, natural, and recreational heritage of the United
States. The National Park Service (NPS) strives to provide opportunities
for all Americans to connect to their national heritage through the
national parks. However, these opportunities are lacking for some -
often due to a variety of social and economic factors.

The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program offers a solution, by
linking National Park units with teachers from low income school
districts. Under this program, selected teachers spend the summer
working as park rangers, often living in the park. They perform various
duties depending on their interests and the needs of the park, including
developing and presenting interpretive programs for the general public,
staffing the visitor center desk, developing curriculum-based materials
for the park, or taking on special projects.

Then, during the school year, these teacher-rangers bring the parks into
the classroom by developing and presenting curriculum-based lesson plans
that draw on their summer's experience. In April, during National Park
Week, teacher-rangers wear their NPS uniforms to school, discuss their
summer as a park ranger, and engage students and other teachers in
activities that relate to America's national parks.

For additional information about the Teacher Ranger program go to
http://www.nps.gov/wupa/forteachers/trt.htm.

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Note from Ellen - there are a lot of parks in the southwest on the list.
Check it out!