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

NPS

News Release Date: September 2, 2015

Contact: Hale Sargent, Interpretive Specialist, [phone] x264

New National Program Encourages Families and Classes to Visit National Parks

 

PETRIFIED FOREST, AZ (September 2, 2015) – Petrified Forest National Park invites all fourth grade students to visit the park for free as part of the White House’s new Every Kid in a Park program. Starting September 1, fourth 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. 

“During the National Park Service’s centennial celebration, we want everyone to get to know their national parks, and we’re offering a special invitation to fourth graders and their families to discover everything that national parks offer,” said National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis. “We hope these free passes for fourth graders will introduce fourth graders, their classes, and families to our national treasures, places where they can run and play, explore and learn.”

“Petrified Forest National Park is looking forward to having fourth graders help us celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service and Petrified Forest’s 110th anniversary next year,” said Superintendent Brad Traver.

 

Petrified Forest National Park offers a variety of activities that fourth graders and their families can enjoy. Take a hike into the wilderness or on any of the paved trails, explore Triassic fossil exhibits in the Rainbow Forest Museum, see how ancestral Puebloan people thrived at Puerco Pueblo, and become a Junior Ranger. The park is planning special Every Kid in a Park events this fall. 

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 at 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. Fourth grade teachers can use the Every Kid in a Park website to receive passes for their entire class. For information about field trips to Petrified Forest National Park, contact the park’s education program coordinator Lauren Carter at 928-524-6228 x238.

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