Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park recently received a grant that allows the park to provide funding for buses for field trips to the park. This project allows Title 1 teachers to apply for transportation funding assistance ($212 per bus) to bring students to the park and learn about this important historic site firsthand. Currently, this funding will be available for teachers through Sept. 30, 2012.

The National Park Foundation, the official charity of America’s national parks, awarded the 2012 Impact Grant to support the launch of “Learning in Action: Bringing Students to the Park,” a project that will provide funding assistance to Title 1 schools to bring students to the Park and participate in curriculum-based education programs. The grant is part of the National Park Foundation’s Impact Grant program, which gives parks the critical financial support needed to transform innovative, yet underfunded ideas into successful in-park programs and initiatives.

Today’s youth spend little time participating in outdoor activities, yet their time using electronic media outlets ever increases. The resulting disconnect from utilizing parks as outdoor classrooms helps to contribute to the lack of historical understanding of sites and the sense of isolation from civic responsibilities.

Teachers completing the standard reservation form on the Park website, nps.gov/chch/forteachers, will need to check the additional transportation funding box to be considered for assistance.

“With these strategic grants, we have been able to positively impact hundreds of national parks across the country,” said Neil Mulholland, president and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “This unique program helps the parks enhance the visitor experience, engaging more people, and ultimately building a stronger community of park enthusiasts who share an appreciation and commitment to protecting America’s best idea, their national parks.”

The National Park Foundation, in partnership with ARAMARK through the Yawkey Foundation, The Fernandez Pave the Way Foundation and The History Channel, awarded Impact Grant grants to 62 national parks across the country totaling more than $500,000.

About Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park

In 1863, Union and Confederate forces fought for control of Chattanooga, known as the “Gateway to the Deep South.” The Confederates were victorious at nearby Chickamauga in September. However, renewed fighting around Chattanooga in November provided Union troops victory and control of the city. Veterans of the battles reunited in 1890 to establish Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park, the first park of its kind. Today, visitors from around the world learn about this critical piece of Civil War history through various interpretive and educational programs provided by National Park Service rangers.

About the national park foundation

U.S. citizens own 84 million acres of the world’s most treasured memorials, landscapes, ecosystems and historic sites — all protected in America’s nearly 400 national parks. Chartered by Congress, the National Park Foundation is the official charity of America’s national parks. The organization works hand in hand with the National Park Service to connect all Americans to the parks, and to make sure they are preserved for the generations who will follow. Visit nationalparks.org for more information.