Lowell, MA (September 8, 2014) - Lowell National Historical Park is one of 65 national parks selected to receive a 2014 Ticket to Ride grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks. The grant supports the programming and bus fees for 600 Nashua School District fifth graders to the Tsongas Industrial History Center (TIHC) to participate in the “River as a Classroom" program and explore the Merrimack River’s ecosystem by boat and on land. The TIHC is an education partnership between the Park and the University of Massachusetts Lowell Graduate School of Education, hosting approximately 50,000 students and educators annually.
Now in its third year, the Ticket to Ride program provides the much-needed funds to make national park field trips possible for schools across the country. Lowell National Historical Park has received the grant for two consecutive years.
“We know that one of the greatest barriers keeping America’s youth from visiting their national parks is access to transportation," said Neil Mulholland, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “Through our Ticket to Ride program, we eliminate that barrier and open up a world of experiential learning in our nation’s largest classrooms - our national parks - and help inspire stewardship of these treasured places."
The Park’s unique historic and contemporary resources help students learn about the causes and consequences of industrial development. In examining the degradation and renewal of the Merrimack River, students gain awareness of and build stewardship for our shared watershed. Nashua’s industrial and water-quality history parallels Lowell’s, creating a natural relevance for Nashua students participating in TIHC&#’;s Industrial History Center director Sheila Tsongas says, “The “River as a Classroom" program offers students the opportunity to build deep, enduring understandings about ecology, a task more easily accomplished in an authentic setting than in the classroom."
The 2014 Ticket to Ride grants were made possible, in large part, through the support of Bayer USA Foundation, Disney, and Subaru of America.
For the full list of park grantees, and their projects, visit the Ticket to Ride page on the National Park Foundation Kirschbaum.
For more information on the National Park Foundation and how to support and protect America’s national parks, please visitwww.nationalparks.org. For more information on the National Park Service, please visit www.nps.gov.
ABOUT THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 401 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at: www.nps.gov. Lowell National Historical Park in Massachusetts preserves and interprets the story of America’s industrial revolution. Learn more at website.
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. Find out more and become a part of the national park community at www.nationalparks.org.
Tags: science river classroom tsongas industrial history center ticket to ride students lowell national historical park
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
