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My Yellowstone Adventure Helps City Kids Discover Wilderness, Themselves
This past August, My Yellowstone Adventure celebrated its fourth year. Each year, 21 fifth-graders, from five different Tacoma, Washington, Boys and Girls Clubs, come to Yellowstone for a week-long learning adventure. Most of them come from tough neighborhoods. Participants are selected based on merit, club activities, and good behavior in school.
Yellowstone Association Institute instructors visit Tacoma in the spring to introduce students and parents to the program. The group also gets a behind-the-scenes tour at a local nature preserve. Between April and July, they take field trips and virtual Yellowstone visits through the National Park Service website to prepare for their trip. These activities also help participants bond with their Boys and Girls Club chaperones and form new friendships with each other.
In Montana, the Association's Yellowstone Overlook Kendeda Field Campus serves as base-camp for the week. The days are packed with exploration and discovery, including geysers, waterfalls, and animals the kids have never seen before. Highlight activities include photo projects, hearing wolf howls in Lamar Valley, getting their Junior Ranger badges in a special ceremony at Canyon Visitor Education Center, and discovering just how many stars the night sky reveals beyond big city lights.
Institute instructors report that students become more independent and self-confident, and learn to work with others as the week progresses. At the end of the week, participants often say they want to work in conservation or the outdoors when they grow up.
The My Yellowstone Adventure program was the vision of two generous Yellowstone Association members from Gig Harbor, Washington. They committed to fund the program for 10 years; many others in their community have joined in their efforts. We thank them for their support which helps us in our mission to connect people to Yellowstone through education. | 
Share your love of Yellowstone with the ones you love this holiday season by giving them a Yellowstone Association gift membership. Your purchase will provide funding for important educational programs and projects in Yellowstone, and your gift recipient will receive benefits for an entire year. Benefits include discounts at stores located throughout Yellowstone and on our website, early registration opportunities and discounts on Institute programs, subscription to our quarterly magazine, the Yellowstone Discovery, and more. Purchase a gift membership of $50 or more and we'll send the gift recipient a silver-plated Yellowstone Association bookmark with an iconic bison charm. Offer good through December 31, 2011.
Winter is the best season for seeing wolves, and our Winter Wolf Discovery packages help you do just that. Each day, your Institute naturalist will take you afield to look for and learn about wolves: their behavior, ecology, and management. Afternoons include snowshoe outings to learn about wolf habitat. Each night, you'll stay at the historic Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel, operated by Xanterra Parks and Resorts (private bath, plus hot tub rental and skating available). Rates start at $669 per person and cover in-park transportation, most meals, snowshoe rentals, and optional evening programs (not including taxes or utility fees). Three-day packages are offered from December 25, 2011, to March 4, 2012. 
Our Yellowstone National Park calendars are a great way to share your love of Yellowstone with others and also to help the Association in our mission to connect people to Yellowstone through education. Be sure to order your calendars before they run out. Updated annually, calendars measure 12" x 12" and feature stunning photography and captions that take you through the natural and cultural history of the world's first national park. Regular price: $12.95, now 25 percent off: $9.70 (No further discounts apply.)
