Schools in Parks Collaborative

The Center for Public Engagement with Science leads the Schools in Parks Collaborative, a year-long professional development program to foster increased confidence and sense of efficacy among 3rd, 4th and 5th grade teachers in using outdoor science learning approaches in state parks to support their curriculum objectives.

Schools in Parks is a state-wide initiative of North Carolina State Parks to ensure that every public school student in the state has a meaningful learning experience in a state park by the time of graduation.

During the Collaboratives, classroom teachers and park rangers take part in a series of workshops where hands-on, inquiry-based activities aligned with state standards and integrated with multiple content areas are modeled for use on field trips. Teacher and rangers partner to develop lessons that can be used to support student learning in state parks over the course of the school year. Collaboratives also provide educators with resources for using the schoolyard as an outdoor classroom, access to a peer network for outdoor learning, continuing education credits, stipends and support in planning a state park field trip during the school year.