Visitors to Haleakala National Park scale the mountain’s 10,023-foot summit on Feb. 6. The National Park Service is seeking a Hawaiian immersion teacher to shadow rangers and help enhance the park’s education curriculum as part of a summer professional development program. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

The Maui News

Haleakala National Park is seeking a kindergarten through 12th grade Hawaiian immersion teacher to participate in a summer professional development program.

During the “Teacher Ranger Teacher” program, the selected educator will spend four to six weeks at the park enhancing existing curriculum, shadowing park rangers and participating in an online graduate course from the University of Colorado at Denver.

“The added cultural components to the park’s existing curricula will provide students a deeper connection to the park’s cultural and natural resources, history and stewardship, and the Hawaiian perspective on conservation,” Honeygirl Duman, the park’s education specialist and Hawaiian community liaison, said in a news release Wednesday.

The goal for this year’s Teacher Ranger Teacher program is to strengthen Hawaiian cultural components in areas of habitat, adaptation, geology and biodiversity, according to the news release. 

The purpose of the program is to train teachers in resources and themes of the National Park Service so that they can return to their schools and incorporate new skills into classroom activities.

Upon project completion, the teacher will receive a $3,000 stipend and three graduate-level course credits.

For more information and an application, contact the Haleakala Education Team at nps_hale_eec@nps.gov. The application deadline is May 1. 

This program is provided by a partnership between the NPS and UC Denver.