Central Park

The Daily Plant : Thursday, November 14, 2002

BEST OF PARKS HONORS THE NATURAL CLASSROOM

Today The Daily Plant honors the Urban Park Rangers for their program, "The Natural Classroom," named "The Most Creative Public Program" at the "Best of Parks" awards.

"The Natural Classroom" is an environmental education program that harnesses children’s natural desire to "have class outside." As the name suggests, "The Natural Classroom" transforms New York’s parks into classrooms by using the plants and animals that flourish in them as an object lesson in a variety of subjects including ecology, botany and ornithology. Children also learn about New York’s history by studying the development of parks and the monuments they hold. All classes are taught by the Urban Park Rangers and are open to children of all ages. Participants in this program are primarily from public schools.

The "Natural Classroom" has been in development for the past two years, and was first offered to the public last fall. After a successful first semester, the program became more popular in the spring and began to attract a greater variety of age groups. Sarah Aucoin, Deputy Director of the Urban Park Rangers, said she was especially pleased to see an increase in participation by middle school groups. "Middle school groups can be hard to target, but are often the most likely to benefit from interdisciplinary study." "The Natural Classroom" is now in its third semester and offers classes to all age groups, include college students and senior groups. Classes are usually from 8-10 a.m. or 12-2 p.m., but programs can be modified to fit the needs of the school.

The primary goal of "The Natural Classroom" is to provide instruction that can be easily tied to what children are already learning in school. After spending a morning or afternoon with the Rangers, teachers are sent home with a packet of information about the lesson and the ways in which it can be related to standard school subjects. "We try to cover a broad range of subjects," says Sarah Aucoin. ""I think it’s wonderful that the Rangers were acknowledged for the work they’ve done; they’ve worked together and drawn upon a large body of knowledge to create lesson plans that teachers can easily integrate into their classes." Through "The Natural Classroom," the Rangers hope that children and teachers will think of the parks as places of learning even when they’re not in school. To that end, some schools have recently partnered with some of the Parks’ recreation centers to provide after-school environmental education programs.

Parks is not the only organization to recognize the Urban Park Rangers for their innovative programs. "The Natural Classroom" recently received an

$80,000 grant from the EPA, which was matched by $27,000 from the city. This money will allow the Rangers to bring their classes to more children throughout the city.

Those honored for "The Natural Classroom" include: Alexander R. Brash, Chief; Sara B. Hobel, Director; Sarah G. Aucoin, Deputy Director; Anne L. Arrowsmith, Urban Park Ranger; Mike Feller, Deputy Director of the Natural Resources Group; Edward J. McAdams, Urban Park Ranger; and Cecilia Dinio-Durkin, a consultant (non-parks).

(Thursday, November 23, 1989)

The Parks Planning division invites New Yorkers to "Landfills: Current Problems/Future Parks?," the fourth in a series of free forums on open space planning issues facing New York City. The forum will be held in the Zoo Gallery, south of the Arsenal in Central Park on Thursday, November 30.

The discussion will focus on the future uses of landfills in New York City, and projects and plans for landfills in other municipalities. Director of Planning Stephen Whitehouse will moderate the forum, and Deputy Commissioner for Planning Diana Chapin will make introductory remarks.

"Color is my day-long obsession, joy and torment.

To such an extent indeed that one day, finding myself at the deathbed

of a woman who had been and still was very dear to me,

I caught myself in the act of focusing on her temples

and automatically analyzing the succession of appropriately graded colors

which death was imposing on her motionless face."

(November 14, 1840–1926)

Know Before You Go

Harlem Meer Center (formerly Lasker Rink)

Harlem Meer Center