National Park Trust's Buddy Bison School Program Gets Kids to Parks! by Mike Prochaska

National Park Trust started a program called the Buddy Bison School Program to provide environmental education to elementary and middle schools in under-served communities, where many kids might have never been to a park because they live in a populated city. The Buddy Bison Program serves 6,000 students annually.

The program has a mascot, Buddy Bison, who helps kids develop a bond with nature and the outdoors. The kids take pictures of themselves with the bison at the parks.

Depending on the level of funding for each school, the Buddy Bison Program provides two or more park experiences where students will learn from park rangers, naturalists, outdoor recreation experts and other outdoor education professionals. Classroom visits by wildlife experts, rangers and naturalists are also provided.

As a park-focused non-profit environmental education program, they fully fund and plan trips including all logistics for 65 sponsored Title I schools, which span 16 states and Washington, D.C.

I love that National Park Trust is doing their part to help children learn in nature and parks! This video is longer than 30 seconds, but we think it's worth it.