Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, January 31, 2002

THE NATURAL CLASSROOM: LINKING CITY KIDS TO CITY PARKS

A year and a half ago, Alexander (Oiseau) Brash, Chief of Urban Park Service and Sara (Whisperer) Hobel, Director of the Urban Park Rangers, ventured to Washington D.C. to meet with the National Geographic Society. At this meeting, Brash and Hobel asked National Geographic to join the Rangers in the development of a new environmental education program. This program would reflect the Rangers’ hands-on experience and National Geographic’s superb knowledge base. The result is The Natural Classroom. Managed by Sarah (Manx) Aucoin, Deputy Director of the Urban Park Rangers, the program links teachers and their students to the natural and cultural resources available in New York City parks.

The Natural Classroom uniquely serves teachers and Parks through nine programs that focus on themes in natural and cultural history. Developed with the cooperation and support of the Board of Education, these programs range from Geology and Botany to Ecology and Conservation, and are geared for students in grades K-8. The programs are easy to register for and give teachers the tools they need to arrange for, and follow-up on, a park-based education. All nine programs tie directly to Board of Education Science, Math and English Performance Standards, helping students to meet their requirements.

As educators are introduced to the exciting new resources of The Natural Classroom, Rangers are beginning to see the fruits of their labor. Over the last month the new citywide Booking Coordinator, Felicia (Hip) Waiters, has booked an average of 25 programs per week. In addition to training the Rangers for the programs, Matt (Homer) Symons, Deputy Director of the Urban Park Rangers, has trained the Central Park Conservancy (CPC) educators. Chief Brash and Director Hobel just came back from Chicago, where they introduced the Chicago Parks District to The Natural Classroom. In March, the Rangers will co-host a conference with CPC and PBS to train over 150 teachers how to use The Natural Classroom. You could be next!

Find out more about the Natural Classroom.

By Sarah (Manx) Aucoin

(Thursday, February 9, 1989)

Take your parka out of mothballs. Winter has finally arrived. Today, the city’s first major "snowfall" of the season was reported in Central Park. And, if predictions are accurate, the Great Lawn at 81^st Street will soon be blanketed with up to six inches of nature’s white stuff.

The snow cover, created by snow machines from the Mount Snow ski resort in Vermont, arrives just in time for Central Park’s Winter Festival this Saturday from 10 A.M. to 4 P.M. on the Great Lawn. The Festival will feature free cross-country skiing, ski races and snow sculpting.

"The way a child discovers the world constantly replicates
the way science began. You start to notice what’s around you,
and you get very curious about how things work.
How things interrelate. It’s as simple as seeing a bug that intrigues you.
You want to know where it goes at night; who its friends are; what it eats."

David Cronenberg
(b. 1943)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center