Hey, teachers: Want to try being a park ranger?
So there’s always been a part of me that would love to be a park ranger. Patroling the national parks, hiking around a lot, spending time in nature and caring for the sites: Yeah, that is right up my alley.
It looks like the national Parks Service is offering just this sort of opportunity for teachers. So if you’re a teacher with an outdoor bent, check this out. I got this from the state Tourism Department:
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The National Park Service is offering teachers a chance to be a park ranger.
Put on the Ranger uniform, receive training, and work for the National Park Service at Washita Battlefield National Historic Site for eight weeks between June and August 2010.
The intent of the Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) program is to link National Park units and teachers with Title I students in urban and rural school districts. Teachers spend the summer working in the park performing various duties depending on their interests and the interests of the park, including developing and presenting interpretive programs for the general public, staffing the visitor center desk, developing curriculum-based materials and taking on special projects.
They spend part of their school year presenting park-related activities in uniform to their students. Teacher-Rangers also make presentations to other students, teachers, and schools during National Park Week.
The teacher will receive a stipend and the program is open to any school district teacher. Contact Kathryn Harrison, park ranger/education coordinator, at (580) 497-2742 or go on line to kathryn_harrison@nps.gov. For more information about the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher program, visit http://www.nps.gov/learn/trt/.
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Bob Doucette
bdoucette@opubco.com
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Comments
I do not have an URI as far as I know. I am interested in trying out being a park ranger. I would like to know if this is happening in Tucson or some where in Arizona or New Mexico this summer at all? Thank you for the help.
Best bet is to look up an area NPS office where you live. This is a national program, so I imagine there’s something in Arizona or New Mexico for you.
That’s a great idea. I had a class in college about the geography of our national parks system, and frankly I had no idea how extensive it really was. The guy was a former park ranger and had a lot of interesting insights about the wild.