I & E @ Golden Gate
April 2016
Recent Successes
An Inspiring Day in the Woods
March 19 was a fun, collaborative success. Staff, interns, and volunteers from the Interpretation, Outreach, Education, and LE teams worked together to engage families in exploring their park and the NPS mission. We debuted the new Muir Woods Junior Ranger book en Español and counted 200-300 visitors at each activity station (including the Junior Ranger welcome station and photo booth, nature crafts, fish dissection, and search and rescue demo.) Special thanks to the Outreach team for providing transportation and special programs for families from Bahia Vista and beyond...and to all who helped prep materials, lead walks and activities, and inspire lots of new Jr. Rangers!
Daunting Rain, Undaunted Spirits!
Two hundred newly minted Junior Rangers participated in a variety of activities on Alcatraz on March 13th. Despite at times drenching rain, families arrived throughout the day for gold rush walks, cannon demonstrations, scavenger hunts and great prizes. Thanks to Helena's planning and leadership on the island, and great community outreach efforts which resulted in a diversity of families enjoying the event.
Welcoming Educators from Japan
On Wednesday, March 9th Muir Woods hosted eight educators from the Center for Ecological Education of Japan. This is the third year Mr. Takao Ogawara, the President of the Center, brings educators from Japan to learn about the education programs at Muir Woods. Todd, Aracely, and VIP Intern Wylie welcomed the group to Muir Woods and lead a three hour walk with them. During the walk we discussed the ecology of Muir Woods, the education programs offered at Muir Woods, and lead a mock program of the Into the Redwood Forest education program – Ranger Todd was an amazing interpreter for both for the resources and the language! We all learned new forest vocabulary in Japanese! The group was enthusiastic about learning words in English and Spanish! We had a wonderful time exchanging ideas, education, culture, and language! We always look forward to their yearly visit to Muir Woods.Highlights and Updates
Take a testflight of our NPS GOGA App 1.0!
After over a year of tireless work by our team at GOGA and Harper's Ferry Center, we are about ready to launch the much anticipated digital app! In just a week or so you will see a TestFlight invitation that will allow you to download the app to your device. This is an opportunity for you in our Interp team and a few others to preview the content and let us know if there are any bugs to fix before its launch on the App store in mid-May. A huge thank you to Will, Michael Faw, Ben, VIP Crisitina Flores and Craig Scott as well as all our content reviewers for their role in getting us here.
Training the Next Generation of Volunteer Managers
The National Park Service volunteer program managers and partners gathered in Lake Mead for an Advanced Volunteer Management course. The primary goal was to bring together volunteer program managers from throughout the Service, along with outstanding nationally recognized consultants/trainers, to learn, network, and share best practices. Alejandra and Terry trained 45 NPS staff and partners through a facilitated dialogue to search for innovative ways to outreach and recruit for new audiences. Both are excited about dialogue with visitors and applying it to training.
Check out the New look on NPS.gov
Last week the NPS launched its new web site format that is more user-friendly on mobile devices. Check out our GOGA site if you haven’t yet. This launch will be followed up by further refinements later this month. We are still ironing out sporadic page load failures and getting the old pages into shape to look nice with the new format. If you notice pages that go to a blank screen rather than loading, or things that just don’t look right, please notify Will Elder to get them fixed.
With the full launch of the new system, we will be able to feed the Parks Conservany our program calendar information directly from our web site, reducing the potential for errors. This will require entering our program calendar entries in a different format and all park programs will be entered into the GOGA web site. Calendar information will then be automatically fed to our other sites, like Fort Point and Muir Woods, from there. Staff responsible for entering event information into the web calendar should look forward to training for the new system later this month. Thank you Will Elder for spearheading this effort for GOGA!
Check out the GOGA 2016-2020 Strategic Plan
Last month the park released its 2016-2020 Strategic Plan which identifies areas of desired change in how the NPS conducts its work at GGNRA. Emphasis areas include:
- A Thriving Workplace
- Operatiopnal Excellence
- Inspiring a Well Planned Visit
- Meaningful Community Engagement
- Catalyst for Change
Thanks to many folks in the Interp division that participated in the open houses and smaller emphasis area teams, voiced your opinions and perspectives and helped craft our vision for the future.
Training Opportuntity
Facilitated Dialogue Program at SF Maritime
As part of continued work on the Relevancy Project work, we have made special arrangements to participate in SAFR's amazing facilitated dialogue program that explores race, gender and class aboard the Balcultha. Programs are from 1-2:30 pm on both April 26 and April 29 (choose either date) and space is limited. If you have not RSVPed yet, please let your supervisor and Terry Kreidler know.
STAFF ARRIVALS, RETURNS AND THE REGULARS
Congratulations to Eric Stearns for becoming on Alcatraz Night Ranger. Many folks already know Eric as he has worked in our park, and many national parks over the years. Eric rejoins our team starting on April 17.
Jen Chin has accepted a job with US Fish and Wildlife in Maryland, back where she used to work. Her last day on Alcatraz will be April 9. Thank you Jen for providing excellent customer service and interpretation on the island!
With Spring upon us, we also welcome new and returning seasonals. Helena Colindres has rejoined the team at Alcatraz and Jamine Reinhardt will be back at Muir Woods later this month. We will send pics and bios as they come in but be sure to say hello, help them get orientated and provide a warm GOGA welcome to all of our new staff.
Health and Wellness Committee Member Recruitment
Would you like to be more involved in maintaining a healthy, thriving work place? You can meet folks in other divisions and have fun in meetings! Consider joining the Health and Wellness Committee. We are looking for a new summer member while Lucy is out on leave starting in April. We usually meet on the 3rd Tuesday of the month, in the afternoon, at Fort Mason. Please contact Lucy at lucy_scott@nps.gov if interested.
Relevancy, Diversity and Inclusion Resources
Race and Beyond: When Public Figures Normalize Hate
By Sanam Malik
As hateful speech has seized national headlines and occasionally led to violent outbursts, regular Race and Beyond columnist Sam Fulwood asked his colleague Sanam Malik to reflect on the impact that demagogic language has on the nation and, in particular, American Muslims. Read More
Suicide Rate Among Young Veterans Has Tripled
By Esther Yu-Hsi Lee
At least 22 veterans commit suicide every day and young male veterans under the age of 30 are three times more likely to commit suicide when compared to civilian males in the same age bracket, according to a new briefing released Thursday by the Department of Veteran Affairs. The number of veteran suicides largely remained unchanged between 2009 to 2011, but the number of male veteran between the ages of 18 to 24 who committed suicide increased by a rate of 33 per 100,000 over the three year period. Read More
National Park Week
All national parks will waive entrance fees to the public. In other words, Muir Woods will be free. This will provide an excellent opportunity to invite old friends to return and welcome first-time visitors.
Saturday, Apr 16, 2016, 08:00 AM
GGNRA
Jr. Ranger Day
In support of Every Kid In The Park, the Marin Headlands will host special activities for kids and families. So invite your neighbors, friends and family to enjoy a day in the park and earn their Jr. Ranger badge.
Saturday, Apr 23, 2016, 09:30 AM
Marin Headlands Visitors Center, Sausalito, CA, United States
Junior Ranger Jamboree
All 4th graders, their families, and kids of all ages are invited to become official Junior Rangers and celebrate National Park Service’s 100th birthday! Enjoy entertainment, refreshments, and hands-on activities and games, discovering all about the Junior Ranger’s duty to “Explore, Learn & Protect.” Gather ‘round the campfire, roast some S’mores and sing Happy Birthday to our National Parks. All youth will be sworn in as official Junior Rangers and receive a commemorative ranger badge. This event is FREE for the whole family! For FREE tickets & more info: parksconservancy.org/jamboree. Public transportation and shuttles available
We are actively looking for NPS staff to assist on this day. If you are interested, please email Kay_Wang@nps.gov or call 415.561.2813.
Saturday, May 7, 2016, 12:00 PM
Crissy Field East Beach
Double Victory
SATURDAY, MAY 21st and SUNDAY, MAY 22nd, 2016
1 PM - 2 PM with Panel Discussion After
Admission Free
A performing arts tribute to the contributions of Asian American communities to the historic vision of victory over both fascism and racism in World War II. Featuring composer/saxophonist Francis Wong and ensemble, Lenora Lee Dance, Kei Lun Martial Arts, Okinawan music and lion dance by Wesley Ueunten and ensemble.
Complementing the performance will be informational displays to be on view at Fort Point from May 1, 2016 through May 31, 2017. This project is part of the National Parks Service Centennial Celebration and in observation of 2016 Asian Pacific Heritage Month.
Saturday, May 21, 2016, 01:00 PM
Fort Point National Historic Site
Michele Gee
Chief of Interpretation & Education
Golden Gate National Recreation Area
National Park Service
Fort Mason Building 201
San Francisco, CA 94123
415-561-4759
Cell 415-613-4220
Email: michele_gee@nps.gov
Website: http://share.inside.nps.gov/sites/PWR/goga/SitePages/Home.aspx
Location: San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: (415) 561-4759