Date: June 28, 2007
Contact: Nancy Gray, (865) 436-1208

Great Smoky Mountains National Park, in cooperation with Great Smoky Mountains Association, is unveiling four new Junior Ranger activity booklets for children who want to become Junior Rangers this summer. The booklets are designed to better serve a variety of targeted age groups: 5 to 6, 7 to 8, 9 to 10, and 11 to 12. Booklets can be purchased for $2.50 each at Park visitor centers. In addition, the Park is offering a free Junior Ranger Program Card available also at all visitor centers.

To celebrate the launch of the new booklets and expanded Junior Ranger programs, Great Smoky Mountains Association is offering a free Smoky Mountain t-shirt to the first 10 children that are awarded their badges, June 27 through July 1, at each of the Park’s three visitor centers (Sugarlands, Cades Cove, and Oconaluftee) as well as the Gatlinburg Welcome Center located on the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Spur.

A listing of Junior Ranger Programs, descriptions and schedule is provided in the Smokies Guide, the Park’s free newspaper available at the visitor centers. The programs, which run from June 24-August 18, are free and engage kids, ages 5-12, in rewarding learning experiences. For instance, children can make their own dinner bell in a 19th Century blacksmith shop, or create a piece of pottery as Cherokee Indians have done for thousands of years; or, if discovering the natural world is more appealing, they can probe the hidden insects living in leaf litter, or venture into the dark to explore the creatures of the night. These programs and many more are scheduled through August 18 at specific times throughout the week.

“The expanded programming was initiated last summer, and we were amazed that our attendance on Junior Ranger programs almost tripled,” said Cathy Cook, Chief of Resource Education. “This new initiative encourages involvement by local children and repeat visitors by offering a variety of specially-designed programs that are interactive and involved. We’re excited to have the new activity booklets to supplement the programs. We hope also that our local residents will take advantage of this program to interact with our staff and the resources, and, at the same time, plan a day participating in the many recreational opportunities that the Park has to offer,” said Cook.

Making this enhanced program a reality was a grant secured by the Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park from the National Park Foundation and Unilever Company, a Proud Partner of America’s National Parks and a National Corporate Partner of the Junior Ranger Program. Great Smoky Mountains Association also received a grant from the Alcoa Foundation and Alcoa, Inc. Tennessee Operations which was used in the production of the new booklets.

Junior Ranger programs engage young people in age-appropriate activities that allow them to discover the significance of a specific site, introduce them to the national park system and to the mission of the National Park Service. They reveal to children that these amazing places belong to them. Almost 300 Junior Ranger programs occur in sites throughout the Service.