Voyageurs National Park Welcomes 4th Grade Students Through Every Kid In a Park Initiative

Come visit a park as part of the Every Kid in a Park Program!

News Release Date: September 3, 2015

Contact: Tawnya Schoewe, 218-283-6670

International Falls, MN –Voyageurs National Park invites all 4^th grade students to visit the park as part of the White House's new Every Kid in a Park program. Starting today, 4^th grade students can now go to www.everykidinapark.gov to complete an activity and obtain a free annual entry pass to more than 2,000 federal recreation areas, including national parks.

"As we celebrate the National Park Service's centennial, we want everyone to get to know their national parks," said Superintendent Mike Ward. "We are excited to invite Minnesota fourth graders and their families to visit Voyageurs and experience all it has to offer, whether as returnee or for the very first time."

Voyageurs National Park offers a variety of activities that fourth graders and their family can enjoy year-round. During the winter, the Rainy Lake Visitor Center provides a place to warm up and borrow snowshoes or cross country skis. Come summer, they can explore the waterways on a guided canoe trip or boat tour, take a ranger-led hike, or work on one of park's three junior ranger books.

To receive their free pass for national parks, fourth graders can visit the Every Kid in a Park website and play a game to access their special Every Kid in a Park pass. Fourth graders and their families can then use this pass for free entry to national parks and other federal public lands and waters across the country from September 1st, 2015 through August 31, 2016.The website also includes fun and engaging learning activities aligned to educational standards, trip planning tools, safety and packing tips and other important and helpful information for educators and parents.

In addition to providing every fourth grader in America a free entry pass for national parks and federal public lands and waters, fourth grade educators, youth group leaders and their students across the country will also participate in the program through field trips and other learning experiences.

This September, at Voyageurs National Park, students in grade 4 will be able to participate in a hands-on learning experience aboard the Voyageur Tour Boat. This is made possible by a National Park Foundation Grant from the Ticket to Ride program supported in part by Coca-Cola, Inc. During the winter, grade 4 students can look for animal tracks while snowshoeing at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center. And coming in the spring of 2016, Falls Elementary 4^th graders will spend a full day experiencing the park at the Rainy Lake Visitor Center.

The goal of the Every Kid in a Park program is to connect 4^th graders with the great outdoors and inspire them to become future environmental stewards, ready to preserve and protect national parks and other public lands for years to come.The program is an important part of the National Park Service's centennial celebration in 2016, which encourages everyone to Find Your Park.

Every Kid in a Park is an administrative-wide effort, launched by President Obama, and supported by eight federal agencies, including the National Park Service, the Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of Education, Fish and Wildlife Service, Forest Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

www.nps.gov