Gateway National Recreation Area - For Teachers (U.S. National Park Service)

Teachers and students can explore most park sites with their students by participating in a variety of ranger-guided programs and self-guided field trips. For some programs, advance participation in a teacher workshop is required prior to the class visit. Please see Jamaica Bay Education Programs. Professional development opportunities are available at the National Parks of New York Harbor Education Center. Here teachers can earn new teacher and g and p credits by participating in courses focusing on place-based learning in New York City's National Park sites.

Sandy Hook has many educational opportunities in both natural and cultural history. They are online, classroom based and in park.

Other programs for children and families, such as the Junior Ranger Program and Web Rangers, are described on our For Kids page.

Camping Program Campfire at Gateway's Ecology Village

NPS Photo

Picture your class here at Ecology Village! All you have to do is register for the Camping Program Teacher Training Course.

Educator Training Opportunity

Ecology Village Camping Program Teacher Training

Deadline: August 21, 2009

Gateway National Recreation Area’s Floyd Bennett Field, Ecology Village offer students in grades 6-8 the only curriculum-based overnight camping program in the New York City area. During the camping trip, students explore nature in the urban outback, prepare meals outdoors, practice teamwork, and participate in hands-on environmental stewardship. This inquiry-based program has recently been revised to reflect NYC learning standards, as well as new scope and sequence in science.

This free 30 hour training course is pre-requisite to bringing classes camping at Ecology Village. Programmatic and logistical information and instruction will be provided by National Park Service Rangers and NYC DOE teachers to ensure that the camping experience is enriching and educational for your students and meets classroom learning objectives.

Topics covered include:

Camping skills, logistics, and safety
Team-building techniques
Pre and post environmental and marine science activities
Introduction to onsite student programs

The course consists of two components:

Friday, August 28, 2009 (6 hours): site overview, planning the overnight trip, pre-visit activities
Saturday, September 12- Sunday Sepember 13 (24 hours) : on-site activities, prepare meals, camp overnight(post-visit activities, priority scheduling for Spring ’10 camping trip)

Participants that successfully complete the training will be permitted to advance schedule spring 2010 class camping dates.

Registration deadline for this course is August 21, 2009; early registration is recommended. Please phone 718-338-4306 to register and for more information.