Off the Press: April 2017

Family-Friendly Trails

The Woods Are Yours
Many parents don’t know that every fourth grader gets a free annual national park pass. Signing up takes seconds at www.everykidinapark.gov—you print out a paper pass that you take on your first trip to exchange for an official one. If you visit a site that charges entrance fees per person, the pass admits up to three adults and all children under 16 accompanying the fourth grader. If the site charges vehicle entrance fees, basically anyone that can cram into the car with the fourth grader gets in! So really, this is a pass for the entire family. The pass became effective last fall and lasts until Aug. 31 of this year. Because it covers seven governmental agencies besides the national parks system, from anywhere in the U.S. you are within a two-hour drive of a participating site. Make this the year you show your family Yosemite or Muir Woods or the Pinnacles! As if this invitation to nature isn’t wonderful enough, Amtrak also offers fourth graders discounted tickets: 75% of when an adult buys a full-price ticket. Visit Amtrak to learn more.

Take Kids to Work
Give your kids the day off of school on April 27 and show them what real work looks like! Now in its 24th year, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is more than a “career day,” according to its sponsoring foundation bearing the same name. “Exposing girls and boys to what a parent or mentor in their lives does during the work day is important,” writes Carolyn McKecuen, executive director, “but showing them the value of their education, helping them discover the power and possibilities associated with a balanced work and family life, and providing them an opportunity to share how they envision the future… [are keys] to their achieving success.” For worksheets your child can do, go to daughtersandsonstowork.org.