This year, schools around the country gear up for radically new tests designed to assess not just student knowledge, but skills like critical thinking or the ability to interpret primary sources of information. "When you think of it, national parks really are the ultimate primary sources," said Superintendent Bob Love. "The adobe bricks, the old mission records, even the tortilla-makers at Tumacácori are valuable resources for teachers and their students."
A suite of new services, lesson plans, and field trips ring in the new year on the grounds of Tumacácori National Historical Park and online on its newly redesigned website for teachers. (www.nps.gov/tuma/forteachers)
Looking for nonfiction text for students to dive into? Try exploring the original mission records on the Mission 2000 database. Lesson plans and other teacher materials are available.
Want to book a field trip? Ranger-guided programs are always free, hands-on, and inquiry-based. Young students can spend a day experiencing what children their age did during mission times. Older students may solve a murder mystery or take on the adobe engineering challenge.
Lacking transportation but want some Tumacácori for your class? Rangers travel to local schools to conduct hands-on, age-appropriate lessons as well.New programs, lesson plans, and source material are being added all the time.
Teachers with a particular interest or curriculum need may collaborate with the park's education ranger to custom-build a Tumacácori experience perfect for them. Likewise, community members may be interested in participating as volunteers. To schedule a ranger visit, field trip, to volunteer, or to ask questions about educational programming online, please contact Ranger Melanie Rawlins at 520-377-5064 or visit our website www.nps.gov/tuma
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
