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2008 Teacher ranger Pat Steed

Teacher to Ranger to Teacher Program

National parks provide Americans opportunities to connect to their national heritage. Too often social and economic factors deny some from realizing those opportunities. The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) program offers a unique solution by linking National Park Service units with teachers from schools with ethnically diverse student populations, with little or no experience with national parks,and little opportunity to explore the relevance these areas can have in their lives. Teacher rangers form a link between school children and national park units like Fossil Butte National Monument.

How does it work? Teachers are detailed as park rangers to Fossil Butte National Monument through an Inter-Governmental Personnel Act (IPA) agreement between their public school district and the National Park Service. They spend eight summer weeks performing various duties, determined by their interests and the needs of the park. The park provides training, a ranger uniform, shared housing, and a $300/week supplementary payment.

Once back in their schools, teacher rangers bring national parks into the classroom throughout the school year. During National Park Week in April, teacher rangers wear their NPS uniforms to school and engage students and other teachers in activities that relate to Fossil Butte and other NPS sites.

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Checking out a wildflower

2009 position description This summer, Fossil Butte National Monument seeks a dynamic teacher to develop our "Fishing for Fossils" two-way audio/video program for broadcast via Internet to classrooms across the nation. The selected individual will adapt the monument's fossil quarry program to meet national middle school science standards, and tie the program to Fossil Butte's middle school curriculum. (The quarry program demonstrates the scientific methods used to excavate fossils from the Green River Formation and allows visitors to work side-by-side with a paleontologist.)

The individual will establish standard operating procedures for a quality broadcast of the program to the classroom, including optimal placement of the participants, microphone, and camera, considering the sun's location, shadows, and wind noise.

Based on the selected individual's interests and abilities, secondary duties may include staffing the visitor center information desk, roving park trails, assisting paleontology staff with the quarry program, and assisting with resource management projects including wildlife monitoring, fossil surveys, and exotic plant control.

How do I apply? Send a completed application form and letter of support from your principal to Fossil Butte National Monument. Application deadline is February 1, 2009.

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Teacher ranger Pat demonstrates fossil preparation techniques.

More information  Fossil Butte National Monument hosted its first teacher ranger in summer 2008.  To see pictures of her experiences, visit this web page.

For more details about the National Park Service Teacher to Ranger to Teacher program and a list of all parks participating, visit Wupatki National Monument's web page.