BOULDER CITY, Nevada - Clark County School District students will be taking more field trips to Lake Mead National Recreation Area during the 2018-2019 school year thanks to a grant from the National Park Foundation.
The official nonprofit partner of the National Park Service is supporting field trips for more than 200,000 children across the country, including field trips for 29 classes in Southern Nevada.
“These trips will provide meaningful recreation experiences for Southern Nevada’s diverse urban and rural youth," said Lake Mead National Recreation Area Acting Superintendent Martha Lee.
Each field trip will include a classroom pre-site overview visit from park rangers and education specialists, providing a chance to build relationships, which enrich learning outcomes during the experiential field trips.
Introductory information about national parks and natural, cultural and recreational resources will be shared in an interactive manner to get students excited about national parks and specifically about their backyard park, Lake Mead.
“As America’s most diverse national recreation area, there are many things to see and do at Lake Mead," said Lee. “Field trips may include a tour and activities at the native plant nursery to learn about seed dispersal; a trail walk to record evidence of weathering and erosion; or, a trail walk to observe and record the biodiversity of plants and animals of the Mojave Desert."
The $7,127 grant is part of the National Park Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids program, which creates pathways for kids to explore and connect with national park experiences.
“Trekking along trails, observing our natural ecosystems and engaging with our shared history are experiences that benefit all children," said National Park Foundation President Will Shafroth. “Making it possible for America’s youth to explore our national parks is an investment in their future and the future of the national parks community."
Partners from the Great Basin Institute and Get Outdoors Nevada, Lake Mead’s official nonprofit partner, contributed an additional $3,300 to support the program.
“Park education and field trip specialists and their education partners work continuously with our district to provide valuable educational programming and support that supplement and enrich educator and student learning," said Clark County School District School-Community Partnership Program Coordinator Cheryl Wagner.
For the full list of grantees and their projects, click. To learn more about the Open OutDoors for Kids program, visit http://www.nationalparks.org/ook/about.
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Tags: every kid in a park field trips national park foundation national park foundation grant
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service
