New River Gorge National River Seeks 3rd and 4th Grade Teachers for 2018 Summer Positions
The National Park Service (NPS) - Teacher Ranger Teacher (TRT) program is a professional development opportunity for K-12 teachers to spend the summer learning about New River Gorge National River and assist with the development of its educational programming.
Teachers will spend up to six weeks working together on an educational project and participating in an online graduate course from the University of Colorado Denver. The goal of the program is to expose teachers to the park’s resources and to assist the park in developing educational opportunities for teachers and students.
Dates: June 20 through July 31, 2018 (you will have the week of July 4th off)
Work Location: Sandstone Visitor Center (Exit 139 off I-64 fifteen miles east of Beckley, WV)
Stipend: $3000.00 upon completion of program and graduate course requirements (Paid in early October)
Graduate Credit: 3 graduate credit hours through University of Colorado Denver
Additional Info: The project will encompose the development of Units of Study for 3rd and 4th grades that meet park goals and themes and incorporates WV College and Career
Readiness Standards, STEAM components, and align with what teachers are teaching in the classroom.
Application Due: June 6, 2018
For an Application: Contact Mark Bollinger: 304-640-8731
More About the Teacher-Ranger-Teacher Program:
Program Benefits
Benefits for Teacher-Ranger-Teachers
- Participating TRTs have the opportunity to develop a personal connection with national park.
- TRTs develop a wide array of teaching examples based on real life experience in parks and create "curricula enhancers" that highlight issues surrounding heritage conservation.
- TRTs become life-long friends of the National Park Service and begin teaching an ethic of heritage conservation in the schools where much of America's future resides.
- The selected teacher will spend eight weeks working alongside National Park Service staff. Teacher-rangers obtain a wide range of knowledge and skills by working with personnel of other park divisions.
Benefits to the School District
- Other educators exposed to a teacher-ranger in their schools benefit from "curricula enhancers" and other resources. They also gain access to a wide array of resources and teaching tools.
- Teacher-rangers join a network of resource specialists, scientists, historians, curators, and the teaching programs and resources of the National Park Service and the Department of the Interior.
- School districts profit from having teacher-rangers who have been exposed to current resource-based issues and teaching activities.
Benefits to School Children
- This program provides the opportunity for students to connect to the nation's heritage through the experiences of their teacher-rangers.
- A variety of resource issues, based on the teacher's summer experience, are discussed in class. These might include historic preservation, deer populations and forest health, exotic species, and water issues.
- Students learn about opportunities for summer and permanent employment with the National Park Service.
- Students share the enthusiasm of a teacher who has had the opportunity to be a National Park Ranger.
