Science Teacher Blogs About Arches National Park

Kathryn Burke is a science teacher from Pacelli High School in Austin MN. She is spending half a year working in Arches National Park as part of a government grant program that lets teachers experience the parks first-hand. She will spend spring and summer in the park and then return to her classroom in the fall.

Will she be able to draw upon her national park experiences to enrich her classroom? Judging from her photography and blog, she is already developing a treasure trove of insights.

This news article talks about Burke and the program. Here are excerpts:

...The park has a special place in Burke's heart because it is the setting of one of her favorite books, "Desert Solitaire" by Edward Abbey. She discovered the book around the same time as her 1970 trip. Abbey's thoughts about keeping the landscape pristine resonated with Burke.

"It worked its way into the very core of my being," she said.

When she arrived at Arches — where Abbey worked as a ranger in the 1950s — the red rocks and the blue sky worked their magic.

"It worked into me on a real subconscious level," she said.

The photo above was pulled from her blog. Read the blog and see more photos here.