The Fort Vancouver National Historic Site typically welcomes 20,000 students on field trips each year, according to park Superintendent Tracy Fortmann. “However, we know that not all schools can easily afford to come here,” she said.
But more can, thanks to the third annual field-trip grant the site has received from the National Park Foundation. The $15,000 grant for the 2018-19 school year will reimburse transportation costs for Title I fourth-grade classes visiting the site. It’s part of a nationwide “Open OutDoors for Kids” program aimed at connecting children with national parks.
“There’s so much to discover at Fort Vancouver,” Fortmann said. “This is the third grant we have received from the National Park Foundation in support of this program, and we are very grateful that last year we were able to reimburse transportation costs for over 4,000 fourth-grade students.”
Fort Vancouver fourth-grade field trips are coordinated with the state’s upper-elementary history curriculum. Students explore the historic site through the eyes of a fur trader of mixed ethnicity and learn about diversity, the early trade and barter systems and the environmental effects of fur extraction. They also learn some Chinook Jargon vocabulary.
