Broadcasting Live From Zion National Park

The growth of distance learning has transformed education from preschool to graduate school. Leading this new way of learning within the National Park system, Zion offered its first distance learning courses in 2016. The expansion into distance learning was born from the desire to take the Zion National Park experience to those who many not otherwise get the chance to learn about, much less visit, Zion and other areas in the Southwest.

Based upon the highly successful pilot program and rising school demand, park rangers expanded distance learning initiatives in 2018 through the support of the Zion Forever Project—creating four new curriculum-based lessons. These newly developed lesson plans were delivered to elementary, middle and high school students in 13 states. Ranger-led lessons reached classrooms at inner-city urban schools in Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego and San Juan, Puerto Rico. Teachers have praised these sessions as perfectly meeting curriculum needs and are requesting additional programming.

In 2019, Zion wants to expand its distance learning studio to reach new audiences. Youth program rangers seek funding to create lesson plans tailored specifically to high-school aged students, university research students, and senior homes. Zion rangers cultivate a passion for conservation that will benefit new audiences as resources are secured to expand the distance learning program.