BAR HARBOR — The National Park Service is recruiting six Acadia Teacher Fellows to spend the summer learning about Acadia National Park’s diverse natural and cultural resources, and ways to protect them. Four teachers will be selected to work on Mount Desert Island, and two teachers will be stationed at the Schoodic Education and Research Center in Winter Harbor. In addition, the park service will select one teacher to work at Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Calais.

The park service invites full-time, K-12 public school teachers to apply online by March 1 at www.nps.gov. For more information, call 288-8812 (Mount Desert Island), 288-1312 (SERC), or 454-3871 (Saint Croix Island International Historic Site).

The fellowship program strives to connect teachers and students to national parks. Priority is given to teachers from schools with students who are underrepresented, economically disadvantaged, or have limited access to parks. Preference is also given to Maine schools. In Acadia’s centennial year, the focus is on climate change education and/or schoolyard outdoor learning environments.

During the summer, teacher fellows will interact with park visitors on public programs along carriage roads and hiking trails. They may shadow ranger-led interpretive programs, attend place-based training, participate in citizen science activities, interact with researchers and park professionals, and more. With the opening of the new climate change exhibits at the Sieur de Monts Nature Center in June, teacher fellows can develop climate change teacher training sessions using the interactive exhibits. They will be asked to create a lesson plan related to Acadia’s resources to take back to the classroom and share with other educators through the park’s website. Newly acquired, first-hand knowledge will enrich their curriculum throughout the school year and, in particular, during National Park Week in April during which teacher fellows can introduce students to the important mission of the NPS.

Acadia Teacher Fellows will receive weekly stipends, teaching materials, and park housing, as available. Additional benefits include a free class trip to Acadia or a nearby national park site, and assistance with designing an outdoor classroom at their home school.

The program is funded by Friends of Acadia. Funding from Dawnland, LLC has allowed the NPS to expand the program to Saint Croix Island International Historic Site.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/acad or call 288-3338.