So much has happened since my last post and yet it is hard to remember day-to-day events. Between visitor engagement, working on different tasks throughout the park, and helping out with Project Write summer camp, the last few weeks have been busy. Preparations for our conference in Washington D.C. are also underway, and I’m both nervous and excited about it. 

As we wrap on these final weeks of our internship I wanted to share with you an update on the Junior Ranger program launch. In its first few days I collected feedback from some families that were willing to share their experiences and thoughts about the new program. After interviewing several families, reading comments that were shared with the park rangers, and hearing what the park rangers had to say it became clear that responses by visitors were mixed. There were several families and visitors that enjoyed the new program and appreciated the simplicity of the map while other families found it more challenging and missed the old format of the previous Junior Ranger program. I had many people compliment different aspects of the program and also critique or suggest ideas for improvement and additions. I also found that many families who were used to the traditional booklet format of the Junior Ranger were not big fans of the new program.

After a few days of being involved in the launch I stepped away from collecting feedback and turned towards other tasks though I always continued to promote the new program and share all about it.