Glacier National Park, the ultimate classroom for thousands

While students from Cornelius Hedges Elementary School sit at the edge of Lake McDonald, a bald eagle swoops down and plucks a duck off the surface of the water in one graceful swoop of predation.

School doesn’t get much better than this and the kids erupt with delight. They are duly impressed.

“We’re here because of things like that,” explained interpretative ranger Teagan Tomlin to the students.

There are very few places on Earth where one can watch a bald eagle eat a meal undisturbed and Tomlin notes the mission of the Park Service to “preserve and protect” species like the eagle.

Glacier may be the ultimate classroom experience. In the past 10 years, the number of Montana students visiting the Park has about doubled, notes Park education specialist Laura Law, who oversees the entire education program in Glacier.

Ten years ago, about 3,000 to 5,000 students visited the park. Today that number is about 8,000, Law said.

She credited the Glacier National Park Conservancy and its fundraising efforts over the years for boosting the program.

The Conservancy this year has funded six interpretative ranger positions, supporting programs on both the east and west sides of the Park. Rangers are also visiting 48 classrooms from across region

In addition, the Conservancy has provided $500 travel grants to 41 schools across the state in an effort to give every Montana fourth-grader a park experience. Working with the Montana Environmental Education Association, the National Park Service and Montana State Parks, staff identified those communities and school districts that had the least access for field trips due to a lack of transportation funds, and provided funding for those schools to visit any park or public land in the state for outdoor education.

Support for this program was provided through donations at last summer’s Backpacker’s Ball.

“There is no substitute when teaching about ecology and public lands for getting students outside and into the resource. We have heard from numerous teachers that theywould not be able to do these field trips without this funding. These funds help teachers bring their lessons to life.” Law said.

The fourth-grade project is a nationwide program to encourage fourth graders and their families to visit public lands across the U.S. by giving them free admission. Locally, far more than just fourth-graders visit the park. All ages do and they travel a long way to do it — as far away as Polson and Great Falls.

On a cool day earlier this month, students in various age groups were literally criss-crossing paths as they visited the Park. The lessons are both fun and educational. In one exercise, kindergarteners from Ruder Elementary were given color swatches and had to match the flora and fauna with the swatch. Green was easy. Orange required a little work. A photographer flipped over a log.

Bingo!

A bright orange centipede scurried across the dirt.

“I want to see the centipede!” a young girl squealed. But the bug had different plans and slithered under some leaves.

Such is life in Glacier.

By this fall the park would like to expand the effort on a national and even international scale through long distance learning via the Internet, Law said.

The Park is still working on the bugs in the system, Law noted. But they hope to have it up and running by October or November.