Registration: If you think you would be interested in your child participating in the Explorers program, please see the Explorers Registration page.

The Field Station is offering its popular after-school program that offers children the opportunity to explore nature and science by engaging their own creativity and natural desire to learn. Students in grades K-5 come to the Field Station once a week to participate in fun, hands-on lessons that emphasize science, nature, and art.

During the fall and spring, as the weather conditions permit, the majority of the class is taught outdoors, maximizing the use of the natural surroundings. In the winter, class is held mostly indoors, but there is often an outdoor portion of each class. In all seasons, special field-trips are scheduled to other locations in the National Park to increase the students exposure to a variety of natural places.

Class Day and Time:	Grades K-2 Grades 3-5 Grades K-2	Mondays Wednesdays Thursdays	4:00-5:30pm 4:00-5:30pm 4:00-5:30pm
Class Size:	15 students, one teacher and one aide
Class Dates:	10-week fall term 10-week winter term 10-week spring term	Week of Sept 15 through week of Nov 17 Week of Nov 29 through Week of Feb 21 Week of Feb 28 through Week of May 9
Tuition Cost:	10 classes	$15.00/class = $150.00 monthly installment plan may be arranged upon request

Instructor:
The class is taught by TJ Caracci. TJ graduated from Illinois State University in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science.  He went on to a 10+ year career in corporate sales for several Fortune 500 companies.  From 1996 to 1998, TJ served as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Republic of Vanuatu.  As a volunteer, TJ taught math and English in a mixed-age, rural school.  After his first year in country, TJ was selected as a pre-service trainer for the incoming class of Peace Corps volunteers.  For the past 5 years he has been a stay at home parent.  He has a five year old daughter who is entering Kindergarten this year.  He brings a love for the outdoors, science and learning to the Explorers program.

The National Park Service also takes part in the program with a park service ranger joining the class once a term. Besides the classroom aide assisting, parent helpers may be needed from time to time to assist TJ in designated classes.

Curriculum:
The program is designed with the intention that participants will attend multiple years. Therefore, the activities and lessons are different from year to year. There are four years of curriculum so students can attend Explorers multiple years without repeating any lessons. All age groups complete the same basic lessons, but the lessons are altered slightly to reflect the abilities of the participants. For this reason, it is important that your child attend the class that is designed for his or her age group. Students may participate in each term individually, however, they are encouraged to complete the entire year.

To learn more about the Explorers curriculum and see some topics studied please see the Explorers Curriculum. This year's classes with follow the Raccoon Curriculum.

Program Calendar:
The Field Station Explorers program closely follows the Duneland public schools calendar. The program calendar is designed so that there WILL NOT be Explorers classes during school holidays, such as fall recess, thanksgiving break, winter recess, winter holiday, and spring recess. However, the Explorers WILL meet on non-holiday days such as school days off for teacher in-service or conferences. To view the program calendar for the 2009-2010 school year please see the Explorers Program Calendar 09-10(xls).