Teacher Ranger Teacher Program

Each summer, Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve strives to participate in the Teacher to Ranger to Teacher Program.

The National Park Service strives to provide opportunities for all Americans to connect to their national heritage through the national parks. The Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) Program offers opportunities for teachers to connect with National Park units.

Under TRT, selected teachers spend time during the summer working as park rangers, while 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 discuss their summer as a park ranger, and engage students and other teachers in activities that relate to America's national parks.

 

Please Note: All TRT positions located at Wrangell-St. Elias are contingent on available funding.

If you have questions about the TRT program at Wrangell-St. Elias, please contact:
Glenn Hart at 907-822-7238 or e-mail us.

 

News about a TRT that worked at Wrangell-St. Elias:

Teacher-Ranger brings Alaskan wildlife into her Manhattan classroom.

By Kristi Neilson

June 9, 2011

During April 2011, Nancy Welch, participant in the Teacher to Ranger to Teacher (TRT) program, celebrated National Park Week with her New York City students at Yung Wing School- Public School 124. Nancy and her 5th grade students, who attend school in the Chinatown section of Manhattan, have turned National Park "Week" into a month-long celebration of national parks!

Living in Manhattan, Nancy's students do not have many opportunities to experience nature and wilderness. Nancy often has to speak to her class with a microphone to be heard over the street traffic outside. Yet in spite of her students' limited exposure to nature, they are fascinated by the stories of the great outdoors, tales of survival, and wild animals. Nancy's goal as a Teacher-Ranger was to take the children on a trip to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve through her experiences, stories, photographs, videos, and classroom activities. When she applied, Nancy, who had had major open heart surgery, said this: "I want to work in a national park because I believe in them, and agree with whoever said that they are 'America's Best Idea'. I also feel indebted to nature for giving me a second chance and for the beauty and encouragement it has provided to me."

During the summer of 2010, Nancy Welch worked as a Teacher-Ranger at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska, where as a uniformed park ranger she created and presented children's programs. As part of the TRT program, Nancy went back to her school and wore her NPS uniform in the classroom during National Park Week this year. During that time she directed her students to earn WebRanger badges and she taught lessons about Alaskan wildlife using activities, book, pelts, and tracks that she borrowed from the park. The lessons were so popular, that word spread that Miss Welch had a wolf, bear and lynx pelt - making several other classrooms request to learn about them as well! It was impossible for her to teach the other classrooms, so she trained her 5th grade students to develop presentations about bears, lynx, and wolves. Several of her kids brought lessons of Alaska to other classrooms and helped kids to become WebRangers as well! One week of planned activities turned into more than a month of National Park lessons. Now all the kids at Yung Wing School want to become park rangers!

Nancy is very grateful for the Teacher to Ranger to Teacher program. She recently wrote: "Thank you, Thank you! I love watching (the kids) fall in love with nature. Can you please send 33 Wrangell-St. Elias Junior Ranger badges? I think (the kids) have earned it!"