Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Welcomes 4th Grade Students Through Every Kid in Park Initiative

Date: September 1, 2015
Contact: Kim Coons, 423-752-5213x139

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Welcomes 4^th Grade Students Through Every Kid in Park Initiative

New National Program Encourages Families and Classes to Visit National Parks

Fort Oglethorpe, GA: Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Parkinvites all 4^th grade students to visit the park for free as part of the White House's new Every Kid in a Park program. Starting Tuesday, September 1, 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 prepare to celebrate the 100^th birthday of the National Park Service in 2016, we want everyone to get to know their local national park as well as other public lands in Georgia, Tennessee, and across America. From Chickamauga Battlefield to Point Park on Lookout Mountain, from Orchard Knob to Signal Point, and from Missionary Ridge to Moccasin Bend, we invite students, their parents, and their grandparents to explore the many special places that belong to all of us," said Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Superintendent Brad Bennett. "We hope that these free passes will introduce 4^th graders, their families, and their friends to many of our national treasures, places where they can retrace the footsteps of our ancestors and explore the outdoors."

Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park offers a variety of activities that 4^th graders and their families can enjoy. These activities include the Junior Ranger program, hiking a variety of trails throughout the park, and possibly coming face to face with a Civil War soldier.

To receive their free pass for national parks, 4^th 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 national parks and other federal public lands and waters across the country from September 1, 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 4^th grader in America a free entry pass for national parks and federal public lands and waters, 4^th grade educators, youth group leaders and their students across the country will also participate in the program through field trips and other learning experiences.To schedule a field trip to the park go to www.nps.gov/chch and click on the "Plan a Field Trip" link.

The goal of the Every Kid in a Park program is to connect 4th 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.