Sustainability

Apollo-University of Phoenix in 2012 has partnered with the National Park Foundation to make it possible for 22 high school teachers to work in parks over the summer break, creating curriculum that will then be taught to their students in the coming school year. During the summer, the teachers and park staff also develop service-learning projects that will be implemented by high school students throughout the course of the school year. The projects tie to state academic standards and are meaningful to the national parks.

“Our national parks provide an ideal physical backdrop for students to learn relevant information about the world around them,” said Neil Mulholland, President and CEO of the National Park Foundation. “Simultaneously, this innovative program imparts the importance of these extraordinary places on our young people, planting the seeds of lifelong engagement with their parks.”

“Connecting high school teachers and students to our national parks is a vibrant way to inspire the environmental stewards of tomorrow,” said Seth Mones, VP of Sustainability for Apollo Group (the parent company of University of Phoenix). “The Park Stewards program provides a wonderful environmental and educational experience, and University of Phoenix is excited to support this excellent program.”

The 2012 Park Stewards grantees include:

• Apostle Islands National Lakeshore, Wisconsin
• Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland
• Aztec Ruins National Monument, New Mexico
• Badlands National Park, South Dakota
• Capulin Volcano National Monument, New Mexico
• Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland
• Channel Islands National Park, California
• Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio
• Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona
• Golden Gate National Recreation Area, California
• Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Tennessee
• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Ohio
• Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indiana
• Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site, Arkansas
• Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, Vermont
• Montezuma Castle National Monument, Arizona
• Natchez Trace Parkway, Mississippi
• Palo Alto Battlefield National Historic Site, Texas
• Saguaro National Park, Arizona
• Timpanogos Cave National Monument, Utah