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Posted by Ballpark Frank (66.58.238.35) on 11:00:38 08/24/12
In Reply to: Jr Ranger posted by roadie
Christi,
Roadie is definitely the "mom expert", when it comes to Yellowstone's Junior Ranger program, and she gave you good advice. I just want to toss in a few things to expand on her input, from my perspective of having worked in the visitor centers, processed Junior Ranger "applications", and observed my peers doing so.
When you pick up the application, have a confidential chat with one of the interpretive rangers, explaining the situation, and ask them for input. Know that in June, you could be dealing with a new seasonal ranger, with minimal experience, but hopefully, you will get someone who has been around a while.
When your grandson has completed the tasks in the paper, to the best of his ability, follow Roadie's advice, and go to a relatively uncrowded visitor center. That is not always easy, but some of it is intuitive. For example, the Old Faithful Visitor Education Center always empties out shortly before the venerable geyser erupts. I know Albright typically is fairly quiet in the first hour of the day and the last couple hours of the day. I like the Grant Village Visitor Center for this sort of situation, because, generally, you can tell by looking at the parking lot, just how crowded it is likely to be inside.
Here is my slant on why a less crowded visitor center is important. With the summer crowds, the Junior Ranger program can become a bit of a time sink for those working the information desks. You are always torn between wanting to do a thorough job for those enthusiastic youngsters who have invested a lot of time and effort in the tasks involved, yet you might have other visitors lined up 3 or 4 deep at the counter. When it gets super busy, you have a tendency to shrink up the amount of time you allocate individual visitors, in an effort to serve all. That is one aspect.
Here is another. I watched numerous, very experienced peers grill certain Junior Ranger candidates, who appeared to have not taken the task very seriously. If the interpretive ranger suspects that "Junior" got an inordinate amount of help from a well-intentioned, but misguided, parent or grandparent, they sometimes "flunk" the candidate, and send them off to REALLY do the work. This is where communicating in advance with the ranger who will "grade" the paper becomes important. You can use whatever language you are comfortable employing, but it is important that the ranger know that he or she is dealing with someone who is somewhat atypical. I would put an emphasis on (1) making sure your grandson does whatever work he is capable of independently, (2) adults offer minimal assistance, but do not do the work for him, and (3) the ranger be made aware of that.
Keep in mind that many interpretive rangers are educators when they are not educating in Yellowstone. They see some percentage of parents letting their kids off the hook, and doing the work for them, and it aggravates them. (I will offer my own admittedly very biased observation on this. I witnessed, and still witness occasionally, the parent or parents who want to make everything easy on their kids. They see other kids with Junior Ranger patches; and they want their kids to have one. If they are wealthy, they might be the type of parent who is comfortable buying anything their child wants, regardless of whether it is good for them, or appropriate for them. The Junior Ranger program is about fostering the education of youth about our national parks, and encouraging the formation of a sense of stewardship, not the expedient acquisition of a patch.) I know this a rather long-winded explanation of a rather simple concept. I just know you have a fairly unique situation, and I don't want you or your grandson to get caught up in the ongoing struggle between the goals of educators and parents that I witness in the visitor centers.
In defense of parents, I should mention that for every parent I saw who seemed to have provided inordinate assistance to their child, I saw five or ten times as many, who were supportive of my "grilling" their kid (particularly the older ones), who had obviously tried to "skate" on some of the requirements.
Here is one last piece of input. From an interpretive culture standpoint, I would favor using the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center, because, over the years, that place has had the most senior interpretive rangers in Yellowstone, overall, with Old Faithful being in second place. Unfortunately, a few years back, someone in leadership started tampering with a system that I believe worked well. They were pressuring people to work in other VC's, and in a few cases, forced them to. I hope they didn't kill the golden goose!
I hope this three generation family trip comes together for you, and you are blessed with great weather (better chance in the second half of June than the first half).
Ballpark
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