SCA applauds President’s initiative to make all National Parks free for all 4th graders
President Obama today announced his “Every Kid in a Park” initiative, providing free admission to national parks and other federal lands to America’s fourth graders and their families. The program begins this fall, in connection with the National Park Service’s Centennial in 2016.
The Student Conservation Association (SCA) applauds this commitment to connect more young people with our national parks. As the national leader in youth conservation service, SCA has proven that exposure to the great outdoors has a transformative impact on young people, instilling lifelong conservation values and creating healthier, happier kids.
As reported in USA Today:
Obama to give free parks admission to fourth graders
President Obama will announce Thursday that the National Park Service will give all fourth graders and their families free admission to national parks and other federal lands for a full year.
The Every Kid in a Park initiative is part of an effort to get schoolchildren outdoors and more active. It will start in the school year that begins next fall, which coincides with the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service in 2016.
Family admission to national parks usually costs $80 for an annual pass, but fourth graders and their families will be able to get a free pass that will give them admission to national parks, forests, wildlife refuges, and other federal public lands and waters, according to a White House official who spoke on condition of anonymity to allow the president to make the announcement.
Obama will make the announcement Thursday in Chicago, where he will announce that he’s designating the Pullman neighborhood as a national monument. The neighborhood, on the city’s south side, was built by the Pullman Palace Car Co. for the workers who made its sleeper cars for passenger trains beginning in 1867 — but it’s most significant for its role in labor unrest and civil rights advances.