Editor's note: The following is an unedited National Park Service release.

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. The NPS will select three teachers to work on Mount Desert Island, and two teachers to work at the Schoodic Education and Research Center (SERC) in Winter Harbor. In addition, the NPS will select one teacher to work at Saint Croix Island International Historic Site in Calais.

The NPS invites full-time, K-12 public school teachers to apply online by March 1 on the park's Teacher Fellowship page. For more information on the Acadia Teacher Fellowship program, please call 207-288-8812 (for Mount Desert Island), 207-288-1312 (for SERC), and 207-454-3871 (for Saint Croix Island International Historic Site). Priority will be given to teachers from schools with students who are underrepresented, economically disadvantaged, or have limited access to parks. Preference will also be given to teachers from Maine schools and those who do not require housing.

The Acadia Teacher Fellowship program connects teachers and students to national parks. For six weeks during the summer, teacher fellows will interact with visitors on public programs, and along carriage roads and hiking trails in the park. They will attend ranger-led interpretive programs, be given place-based training, participate in citizen science activities, interact with park professionals, and much more.

Teacher fellows will be asked to create a lesson plan related to Acadia’s resources to take back to their classroom and share with other educators. In addition, they will learn about turning their schoolyards into outdoor learning environments. Newly acquired, first-hand knowledge of national parks will enrich the teacher’s classroom curriculum throughout the school year and, in particular, during National Park Week in April during which teacher fellows can introduce a larger student audience to the important mission of the NPS.

“Many classroom teachers dream about living in and learning about our national parks,” said Acadia Superintendent Kevin Schneider. “Acadia Teacher Fellowships are helping make those dreams come true.”

Acadia Teacher Fellows will receive weekly stipends, teaching materials from Eastern National (the park’s bookstore partner), and shared park housing, as may be available. Additional benefits include a free class trip to Acadia or another national park site near their school, and assistance with designing an outdoor classroom at their school.

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