The Kenai Fjord Tour Company offers half day, full day, a 3-day package and the National Park Tour. We chose the “National Park” Fjord tour because it included a talk by a Park Ranger and gave the Dudes an opportunity to earn another Jr. Ranger badge.
The Jr. Ranger program has been a great addition to the Dudes homeschooling program particularly in the areas of natural history and sciences. Each Park has a booklet filled with learning activities based around their particular park (glaciers, caves, wildlife etc.). Some of the activities can be completed with the information provided in the booklet. Others require attendance at a ranger talk or a visit to a particular area of the park. Yellowstone has been the most challenging so far requiring all of the above.
The Dudes are always anxious to get their hands on the next booklet and earning their next badge has become a source of pride for them. The Lil’ Dude even requested that I sew one of his cloth badges (some are plastic) on his coat sleeve “like the Rangers do”.
The Dudes worked diligently during the cold part of the boat ride to be sure that their booklets would be finished by dinner when the the Ranger would be inspecting their work. The Rangers check each page to be sure that it is completed properly, take the time to correct them if they are wrong and talk to them about the park and what they can do to help preserve the environment. They don’t just give out badges, they have to be earned – yippee for the Jr. Ranger program!
A bonus for the Jr. Rangers on this trip was being invited to the wheel house by Captain Chris. The kids got to sit in the Captain’s chair, inspect the instruments he uses for navigation and even have a hand at the wheel. The Captain also took the time to answer any questions they had about the trip or the boat.
After the ranger reviews their booklet, the Dudes are required to raise their right hand and repeat an oath along with the ranger about taking care of the park and everything within it. They are then presented with their badge. Since there was a group of Jr. Rangers on the boat, the oath was done together, then the badges were presented individually.
The Ranger gave a talk to the whole group during our surf and turf buffet dinner about the Kenai Fjords National Park.
left: Mmmmm king crab legs!
right: Mommy, why are you taking pictures of me!
After dinner, the Ranger took the Jr. Rangers aside to review a collection of animal skulls.
The whole day was great fun and a tremendous learning opportunity for ALL of us. The lecture combined with the hands-on, the book work and the real life experiences will hopefully be lessons that will stay with us for a long time.
above: Even Jr. Rangers get tired after a long day.
“The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows” Sydney j. Harris