News Release

Now Recruiting a Teacher-Ranger-Teacher with Sleeping Bear Dunes

Educators use nets to search for dragonfly larvae in the plants and mud on the bottom of Bass Lake at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore.

NPS Photo

News Release Date: May 3, 2021

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore (National Lakeshore) is recruiting a local, virtual Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT) to spend the summer collaborating with rangers to develop education programs. Applications received by May 16 will receive first consideration.

The Teacher-Ranger-Teacher (TRT) program is a professional development opportunity for K-12 teachers to spend the summer acquiring new skills in experiential learning through a program provided by a partnership between the National Park Service (NPS) and the University of Colorado Denver. The participants spend between four and six weeks working with a NPS unit developing a major educational project and participating in an online graduate course from University of Colorado Denver.

The goal of the program is to provide teachers with an opportunity to engage with park resources, develop at least one lesson to be used in their classrooms, assist the park in developing curriculum-based lessons and activities, and increase their understanding of place-based learning. The NPS aims to especially reach students from underserved schools and districts by recruiting teachers from Title 1, urban or rural schools and from tribal schools to participate in the TRT program.

This year’s TRT will have the opportunity to create activities and program materials to provide teachers across the nation with asynchronous and synchronous distance learning curriculum relevant to the National Lakeshore. These programs will be designed to meet Next Generation Science Standards, Common Core, and Michigan Social Studies Standards. The TRT may also work with a variety of park experts and gain experience helping with other park programs or special events.

The position is expected to be mostly virtual, with the TRT conducting their work remotely on their own equipment. There will be opportunity for the TRT to make day trips to the National Lakeshore to engage with staff and visitors. Housing will not be provided so the TRT must live and teach within the local commuting area.