Rangers

What is it about a man in uniform? So sexy.

At least that’s what I thought.  Until I saw Jeff, after working hard to obtain the rank, raise his right hand, make the oath, and receive his badge.  Maybe it was that he was becoming a Junior Ranger at Redwood National Park.  Maybe it was that the next oldest Junior Ranger that day was twelve. Maybe it was because I had already seen him do this at two other National Parks that summer.

In any case, it was definitely not sexy.  Here’s the thing, though; it was sweet.  Jeff loves national parks, and he loves workbooks, and loves park rangers.   And the Junior Ranger Program of the National Park Service has all three.  Jeff could not have been more in his element.

Because I helped Jeff complete the necessary activities to become worthy of the badge, we both learned more than we would have if we had just strolled through on our own.   As much as a worksheet is a lame way to learn something, the right worksheet at the right time can spark interest and focus.

The boys have inherited their dad’s love of workbooks.  And of badges and all things official sounding.  They were psyched to learn that they could become Junior Rangers at Historic Jamestown yesterday.  They happily read the signs they needed to read, and observed the artifacts they needed to observe, and attended the archeologist’s talk they needed to attend, all to get their badge.

So here’s to the National Park Service!  I hope you don’t lose all your funding this year. I’d so much rather do without corn subsidies or the Diane Rehm Show.  (Sorry NPR, but she talks sooooo slowly.  I really can’t take it.)  Any organization that can get my kids to happily settle in and work hard for a few hours should be given as much tax support as possible.

After all, a generation of Junior Rangers has to be good for the country, right?  And just think how sexy they’ll all be.