News Release

Pecos National Historical Park Receives Field Trip Grant from the National Park Foundation

Date: October 2, 2017
Contact: Becky Latanich, 505-757-7200

Pecos, NM (October 2, 2017) – Pecos National Historical Park was selected to receive a 2017 field trip grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. Pecos National Historical Park will partner with Pecos Independent Schools and El Dorado Community School for the 2017-2018 school year to help educate their fourth grade classes both in the park and in the classroom.

This grant, part of the Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program, supports Every Kid in a Park.

“I can still remember the excitement of exploring my first national park as a kid and it made me want to discover more,” said National Park Foundation President Will Shafroth. “I’m thrilled that our National Park Foundation grants make it possible for hundreds of thousands of kids to experience the wonder of parks for the first time, sparking a lifelong love for national parks.”

The grant is titled “Creating Connections to the Ancestors: Northern New Mexico 4^th Graders Discover their Past at Pecos” and will incorporate both classroom visits and an on site field trip. Park rangers from Pecos National Historical Park will visit each fourth grade classroom at these schools at least four times over the course of the school year. During the classroom visits, park staff will introduce students to the biological, natural, and historical processes that contributed to the development of the unique resources of Pecos National Historical Park. In the spring, the students will visit Pecos National Historical Park and finalize their year-long creative projects that capture their experience with the park.

For the full list of grantees and their projects, click here.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK FOUNDATION

The National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks and nonprofit partner to the National Park Service. Chartered by Congress in 1967, the National Park Foundation raises private funds to help PROTECT more than 84 million acres of national parks through critical conservation and preservation efforts, CONNECT all Americans with their incomparable natural landscapes, vibrant culture and rich history, and INSPIRE the next generation of park stewards. In 2016, commemorating the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary, the Foundation launched The Centennial Campaign for America’s National Parks, a comprehensive fundraising campaign to strengthen and enhance the future of these national treasures for the next hundred years. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org.