After a year of school, some children – ones that didn’t do too well – will be required to attend summer school, where they can make up missing work, be re-tested on certain subjects, and try to catch up, academically, with the other students. Say your child doesn’t need summer school? Make him go anyway! That is, enlist your child in the Unilever/National Park Association’s Junior Ranger Program and they’ll not only have a blast this summer, but they’ll learn a tremendous amount of information about America’s parks, wildlife, plant life and more.
Working with the Boys Club of America and the Girls Club of America organizations, Unilever, along with the National Parks Association, invite children of most ages to become Junior Rangers where they’ll learn the history of different National Parks, the science of their surroundings, and a real dedication to protecting their ever-changing world.
Visitors to any one of the numerous National Parks will receive a brochure explaining the Junior program and how it will benefit kids and their families. Or, if your child belongs to the Boys or Girls Club of America, they can sign up for them. Upon completion of several activities set out by the National Parks Association, the participating children will receive a Junior Rangers Badge and be allowed special participation opportunities at any of the National Parks.
If you live close to any one of hundreds of National Parks this opportunity is a must. The program offers hikes, informative tours, projects for kids, picture-taking opportunities, educational classes and much more. There are Ranger-led adventures and friendship-building projects.
For over a decade, Unilever has worked with the National Park Foundation to help protect almost 400 national parks across America. In that time, Unilever has contributed over 24 million dollars towards that goal. To date, more than 15,000 kids have joined in and participated in the National Parks Program and plan to enlist 100,000 volunteers in the next few years. These volunteers will be equal to $1.6 million in manpower.
In addition to giving kids the National Park experience, Unilever has donated 100% recycled plastic and sustainable lumber to over 125 national parks for use in building fences, docks, boardwalks and other additions. These donations have contributed 14 million plastic product containers to good use rather than adding them to the already-overloaded landfills.
Unilever also asks for volunteers from their own company, to participate in the program, donating their time to the kids. The Unilever employees work alongside the kids, National Park Rangers, to provide a learning experience for the kids.
If your child has a love of the great outdoors, enjoys science, loves hiking, cares about the environment, or just wants to meet new friends and have fun, consider signing him or her up for the National Parks’ Junior Ranger Program. It’ll be an experience he never forgets and will project him into a life-long goal of protecting and preserving America’s National Parks. You’ll feel good about what your child is doing this summer, you’ll spend little for him to do it, and he’ll have a fabulous time.