Every Kid in a Park Program Returns to the Santa Monica Mountains

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area encourages all fourth graders to visit the park this year as part of the Every Kid in a Park program. The program gives fourth grade students, and those accompanying them, free access to more than 2,000 federally managed lands and waters. Visit http://www.EveryKidinaPark.gov to download the pass and obtain more information.

"A lifelong love of parks and the outdoors usually starts with a school field trip," said David Szymanski, superintendent of Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area. "Young people see wild and historic places for the first time. They set up a tent or use binoculars. They hike. The magical part is when they realize that all these places belong to them.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area was selected to receive a 2016 field trip grant from the National Park Foundation, the official charity of America's national parks, to support the Every Kid in a Park program. The grant is part of the Foundation's Open OutDoors for Kids program. The park and their partners will continue and expand this effort into the 2016-2017 school year.

During the 2015-2016 school year, over 7,100 4th grade students and 305 teachers from 74 Los Angeles County schools participated in one of nine curriculum-based field trips offered by the park and partner organizations. While outdoors in the mountains, students were engaged in everything from exploring the world of plant pollinators to hiking through an oak woodland for the first time.

"These grants are planting the seeds for lifelong relationships with national parks and their programs," said Will Shafroth, president of the National Park Foundation. "By providing access to transformative experiences like listening to the sound of birds chirping, walking the halls of a school that tell a civil rights story, looking up at a dark night sky, or pitching a tent with a friend for the first time, these children are forever impacted. We appreciate the power of national parks and, through our support, the National Park Foundation hopes to share them with as many kids as possible."

The Every Kid in a Park pass – which features a new design for this year's students – is valid for a full calendar year starting September 1. The pass grants free entry for fourth graders and up to three accompanying adults (or an entire car for drive-in parks) to most federally managed lands and waters, including national parks, forests, wildlife refuges and marine sanctuaries.

The newly expanded Every Kid in a Park website has links to educational activities, trip planning, field trip options, the downloadable pass, and additional information in both English and Spanish. After completing a fun educational activity, the child can download and print a pass. The paper pass can be traded for a more durable pass at participating federal sites nationwide.

Every Kid in a Park is part of President Obama's commitment to protect our nation's unique outdoor spaces and ensure that every American has the opportunity to visit and enjoy them. The program, now entering its second year, is a call to action for children to experience America's spectacular outdoors, rich history and culture.

Every Kid in a Park is a crucial component of a multi-pronged approach to inspire the next generation to discover all that our nation's public lands and waters have to offer, including opportunities to be active, spend time with friends and family, and serve as living classrooms to build critical skills.

The Every Kid in a Park program is an Administration-wide effort between the Department of the Interior, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of the Army, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The program continues each year with the then-current group of fourth graders. After 12 years, every school-age child in America will have had an opportunity to visit their public land and waters for free, inspiring the next generation to be stewards of our nation's shared natural and cultural heritage.

For more information, please visit http://www.everykidinapark.gov and follow the program on Twitter @everykidinapark, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA) is the largest urban national park in the country, encompassing more than 150,000 acres of mountains and coastline in Ventura and Los Angeles counties. A unit of the National Park Service, it comprises a seamless network of local, state and federal parks interwoven with private lands and communities. As one of only five Mediterranean ecosystems in the world, SMMNRA preserves the rich biological diversity of more than 450 animal species and 26 distinct plant communities. For more information, visit http://www.nps.gov/samo.