National Parks Junior Ranger Program
Everywhere we go there are National Parks, forts, monuments, historical sites, battlefields and forests. And most National Parks have a Junior Ranger Program. The Junior Ranger Program is usually a packet full of questions and activities that you look in museums, visitor centers and on placards throughout the exhibits to find the answers for. They teach you all about the place and history while being really fun at same time. You can find more information here:
You do not have to visit the park to complete the packet but it is far easier to do it that way and I think you get way more out of it that way. It's been easier to learn history by being in the actual places and seeing things for yourself than just reading about it in a text book or on the internet. You get a badge or patch or certificate or all three when you finish even if you send in the packet through the mail. So if you cannot get to the National Mall you don't have to miss out on the experience or information as you can print them online.
The first packet I completed was the one on Ellis Island in New York. I had to watch the movie, explore the exhibits and do the interactive activities like take the computerized citizenship test that immigrants take to become citizens of the United States. One of the questions was What branch of the government writes the law? and another asked How many votes you needed to override the President's Veto on a law? I only missed one out of ten questions! You attend a Ranger talk and complete activities where they ask you to write essay or answer questions that are about your life now. There are also fun activities like crossword puzzles and word searches. Manny could sure be a good Junior Ranger as she is the best cross-worder we know! I wonder if they have an Elder Ranger program for grandparents?
The part of the Junior Ranger program that I like the best is having the goal of finishing the packet which makes learning all about the park or monument much more fun and easier because it organizes the information and helps me retain it all better. When I'm watching the films or reading the wall exhibits it makes me scan for the important messages and once I get the answers I read through the rest for fun and feel like I get more out of it. At the Ford's Theatre where we studied about President Lincoln's assassination and life there was a film about Frederick Douglass. I didn't know who he was and found out that he was a black man, abolitionist author who was good friends with Lincoln and argued for black soldiers to get paid the same amount of money as white soldiers in the Civil War. He was the first black man to be invited and allowed to dinner function at the White House. The program gets me more excited about the films and exhibits and I get more out of them since the packet makes it easier to organize the information. It's kind of like a scavenger hunt each time. My mom doesn't have to make me do it because I'm excited to earn the next one like a Boy Scout badge for each place. There are so many places to see and do this program at. In Washington D.C. alone there was National Mall, Ford's Theater, Civil War, East Parks, Underground Railroad, President's Park, Anacostia Park, White House and Theodore Roosevelt Island. Some programs are special like the 150th Anniversary of the Civil War and for those programs they give out patches. I've earned three patches so far and eight badges. You also get your booklet stamped like a passport with the date you finished it. One kid had every badge from every state done when he graduated high school and that's what I'm going to do!
The part that makes me the most nervous is the verbal test they give you at most of them. They make sure you know the answers and your parents didn't do it for you or you didn't cheat. Some Rangers are more strict than others so beware lazy tweeners, do not cheat and think you'll get away with it. I like the pride I feel when I get to raise my right hand and they swear you in to give you your badge. I feel like I didn't just go to the park and half-heartedly looked at stuff and passed things over or just gawked at the cool big cannons. If I had not done the packets there is so much I wouldn't have ever learned or known about cool things in our parks and history. For example...at Fort McHenry I would have never known how little soldiers were paid ($8/month) or how the residents of baltimore dug earthworks around the city to protect it or the meaning behind the Star Spangled Banner. I would have just seen barracks, a flag and some models or cannons or walls with a bunch of writing. The Junior Ranger packets make it fun to read and get the cool facts and stories behind all these relics. I encourage to check them out online or find the closest park to where you live. These places could be just filling apart forts or parks to walk your dog and they are pretty and it's nice to walk around them but to learn who lived there or died there, fought there or what it's history is makes it much more meaningful.
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