04/25/2024 — Johanna van Waveren

2024 Every Kid Outdoors Small Grant Recipient

Grant award secures funding for transportation

School field trips to Colorado National Monument can be cost prohibitive due to transportation costs. The grant awarded by the National Park Trust and USDA Forest Service will address this obstacle.

We are delighted to announce Colorado National Monument Association (CNMA) was selected as a grant recipient for the 2024 Every Kid Outdoors Small Grant program by the National Park Trust and USDA Forest Service.

Funds Awarded

The Every Kid Outdoors Small Grants Program was developed in partnership by both the National Park Trust and the USDA Forest Service to support schools and organizations focused on connecting elementary school-aged youth to public parks, lands, and waters.

Colorado National Monument Association received a $5,000 award to support our work to connect our community’s elementary school-aged learners with local parks, public lands, and waters. These funds will pay for school bus transportation to bring school groups to Colorado National Monument for field trips. We’re so grateful to our partners for this opportunity to more equitably serve the Grand Valley’s learners!

Impact for Students and Colorado National Monument

“When I saw how much money a bus for a field trip can cost, I knew it could be a limiting factor in getting school groups to the monument. It can affect whether teachers, students, and their families decide to attend a field trip at all. Field trip experiences at the monument encourage social emotional wellbeing and foster personal connection to the Grand Valley’s unique natural environments, not to mention they’re aligned to state and national academic science standards. This grant will help our community by improving access to field trips for upper elementary classrooms to Colorado National Monument,” said Nicholas Scarborough, Education Technician at Colorado National Monument.

“As our spring semester schedule is almost as capacity, interested teachers can reach out and see if their scheduled field trip can be supported by this grant or if there’s still an open date to get your classroom here. We’re hoping to use any leftover funds to support teachers during the fall 2024 semester’s field trips as well. We’re so grateful to the National Park Trust for this opportunity and to Colorado National Monument Association for assisting with the grant application and handling the finances,” said Scarborough.

How to Request Transportation Assistance

If your elementary classroom needs funding assistance to pay for transportation to Colorado National Monument for a field trip, please reach out to Nicholas Scarborough at nicholas_scarborough@nps.gov and ask about bus funding.