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Our Why...

5/16/2022

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I may not have realized it, but STEAM in the Park has been a dream of mine my entire life. As a young girl, I remember taking family camping trips every summer. I fished at the beach and in mountain streams, hiked trails, listened to ranger talks, watched the bears go through our coolers while I sat in our camper. My family would sit around the campfire singing, telling tall tales and roasting marshmallows.  I learned so much from those moments in the wild. 
My paw-paw was also a Park Superintendent, so spending time in National Parks has been a lifelong activity for me.
As an adult my husband and I continued to spend summers in the mountains with my family. After our daughters were born we quickly introduced them to the great outdoors. We enjoyed countless camping trips playing in streams, fishing, hiking, eating s'mores and using nature to introduce a sense of wonder and curiosity by exploring and finding creative ways to solve problems.
As a teacher I realized that getting students and teachers out of the classroom and introducing them to experiential learning could be life and career changing. 
For years I wondered: could we combine my lifelong experiences into an opportunity for educators to connect, collaborate, and create? 
Well, we proved that we could!  From July 16th - 19th, 2021, the first STEAM in the PARK event was held at the Schoodic Institute in Acadia National Park. Over 30 educators from 15 states came together to explore the great outdoors, sit around the campfire and listen to stories and sing songs, hike through the woods, explore tidal pools to learn more about the invasive green crab and come up with practical ways to eradicate them. We learned how to notice the small things in nature and capture them on paper. We connected literacy to nature and the parks and even used decorating cookies to show that it is possible to use fun activities to further our learning.  
These campers accepted the challenge to go back to their communities and become ambassadors of STEAM in the Park and Expeditions in Education and to create content for their students to help them realize and fulfill their dreams!

This summer we are taking over 200 educators to 8 National Parks around the country. Follow us at #STEAMinthePARK to learn with us. 



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    Authors

    Dacia Jones, CCO
    ​Susan Bowdoin,
    ​Program Director

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​Expeditions In Education, INC is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Dacia and Steve Jones (dacia@expeditionsineducation.org) (828)244-7586
Copyright 2022
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  • Home
    • Meet Us!
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • 4th Grade
    • Crossing America LIVE
    • Episode One: Homestead NHP
    • Episode Two: Holiday in the PARKS
    • Episode Three: Biscayne National Park
    • Episode Four: Everglades National Park
    • Episode Five: Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
    • Episode Six: Assateague Island National Seashore
    • Episode Seven: George Washington's Birthday 2022
    • Episode Eight: Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
    • Episode Nine: Tumacácori National Historical Park
    • Episode Ten: San Antonio Missions NHP
    • Episode Eleven: MotorCities National Heritage Area
  • National Parks Expedition Challenge
    • Acadia National Park
    • Arches National Park
    • Assateague Island National Seashore
    • Badlands National Park
    • Big Bend National Park
    • Big Cypress National Preserve
    • Biscayne National Park
    • Bryce Canyon National Park
    • Cape Cod (ONE) National Seashore
    • Cape Cod (TWO) National Seashore
    • Carlsbad Caverns National Park
    • Casa Grande Ruins National Monument
    • Chaco Culture National Historical Park
    • Crater Lake National Park
    • Cuyahoga Valley National Park
    • Dayton Aviation National Heritage Historical Park
    • Death Valley National Park
    • Denali National Park
    • Dry Tortugas National Park
    • Eleanor Roosevelt National Historic Site
    • Everglades National Park
    • FDR Memorial
    • First State National Historical Park
    • Flight 93 Memorial Park
    • Ford's Theatre
    • Fort Monroe National Monument
    • Gateway Arch National Park
    • Gettysburg National Military Park
    • Grand Canyon National Park
    • Great Smoky Mountains National Park
    • Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
    • Homestead National Historical Park
    • Harpers Ferry National Historical Park
    • Home of Franklin Roosevelt National Historic Site
    • Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
    • Indiana Dunes National Park
    • Jimmy Carter National Historical Park
    • Joshua Tree National Park
    • Kenai Fjords and Alaska Coastal Parks
    • Lincoln Home National Historic Site
    • Lincoln Memorial
    • Maggie L. Walker National Historic Site
    • Mammoth Cave National Park
    • Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial
    • Mesa Verde National Park
    • New River Gorge and Preserve National Park
    • Niobrara National Scenic River
    • Palo Alto Battlefield
    • Petroglyph National Monument
    • Pullman National Monument
    • Redwood National and State Parks
    • Rocky Mountain National Park
    • Saguaro National Park
    • San Antonio Missions NHP
    • Shenadoah National Park
    • Tidal Basin-NAMA
    • Vanderbilt Mansion National Historical Site
    • Voyageurs National Park
    • Wright Brothers Memorial
    • Yosemite National Park
    • Zion National Park
    • National Park Careers
    • National Park Perceptions
  • STEAM in the Park
    • STEAM in the PARK 2022 BLOG
    • Niobrara National Scenic River May 28-June 1, 2022
    • Bryce Canyon- June 5-9, 2022
    • New River Gorge June 18-22, 2022
    • National Mall June 25-29, 2022
    • Acadia July 17-20, 2022
    • Mammoth Cave July 24-27, 2022
    • Crater Lake August 7-10, 2022
    • Great Smoky Mountains August 15-19,, 2022
    • STEAM in the PARK Short Stories
    • STEM in the Mountains
  • Sustainable Connections
  • Design Challenges
    • ON DEMAND Engineering Challenges
    • Weekly Dives
    • UN Sustainability Challenges
    • Off The Grid
    • STEM Challenges- ECO
  • Photographic STEM