Fall Family Programs
Olympic Park Institute
"Olympic Park Institute is one of the best experiences of our students' lives. These students will forever have a more sophisticated knowledge of the environment and their responsibility to care for it." - Paul Fitzgerald, Teacher, Miramonte High School (San Francisco, CA)
Since 1987 Olympic Park Institute has been offering residential outdoor education programs to school groups grades 4-12, enriching lives and cultivating environmental stewardship along the way. Our programs:
- Instill an understanding of and appreciation for nature
- Increase scientific literacy and comprehension of environmental issues
- Prepare students for academic success and a life of environmental stewardship
- Improve communications skills and confidence
“If you think you don’t like nature, or even if you do like it, go to Olympic Park Institute. Experience the best things that will ever happen. It’s the place to be.” - Student, Ballard High School (Seattle, WA)
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Field Science Education >> We provide 3 and 5 day residential programs for grades K -12 featuring hands-on, inquiry-based science education in Olympic National Park |
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Family Programs >> We provide fun and relaxing weekend adventures for families to spend time together in magnificent Olympic National Park |
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Teacher Professional Development >> We offer workshops for teachers to enhance their learning while providing time with colleagues and family. |
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Conference and Event Facilities >> In the heart of Olympic National Park, we can provide meeting space, overnight accomodations, and food service for groups of 20 to 100. |
Bring your class to Olympic Park Institute!
For more details, call our office at 206.382.6212 x.13 or complete our online inquiry form.
TELL A FRIEND
PRINTThis week, NatureBridge’s Olympic Park Institute hosted military families participating in the Operation Purple Healing Adventures program.
The National Military Family Association program serves veterans who were wounded or experienced emotional trauma or illness related to their service in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom.
Read the full story on sequimgazette.com »
Environmental education campus on the shores of Lake Crescent proves to be an ideal spot for National Military Family Association Program
PORT ANGELES, Wash. (Aug. 27, 2010): This week, NatureBridge’s Olympic Park Institute hosted military families participating in the Operation Purple Healing Adventures program. The National Military Family Association program serves veterans who were wounded or experienced emotional trauma or illness related to their service in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) or Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF). It gives veterans and their families a chance to reconnect as they spend time together relaxing, fishing, boating, and enjoying adventures led by experienced outdoor educators.
Erik Lindbergh, a board member for Olympic Park Institute, is interviewed on Seattle Voices. Learn about the LEAP program he's running to inspire a technological breakthrough in electric powered flight, how intrinsic feedback led him to become a pilot and flight instructor and how he just has to make sawdust! You can watch the Seattle Voices episode by following this link: http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=3121032
At the request of President Obama, senior government officials are holding a Youth Listening Session on July 1st 2010 at Franklin High School in Seattle, WA to seek input on what will be the America's Great Outdoors Initiative.
Join Tom and Carrie Sanford for Olympic Park Institute's Third Annual Summer Picnic. Enjoy hiking, canoeing, exploring old growth forests and other family friendly activities. Feast upon delicious dishes, taste local wines, enjoy live music, and relax on the shore of Lake Crescent. Fun for the whole family!
In August 2009, Photo Camp headed to Olympic National Park in Washington state in partnership with Olympic Park Institute. Working under the guidance of photographer Melissa Farlow, Photo Camp participants from West Seattle High School picked up cameras and took a new look at the ecosystems around them.
Olympic Park Institute is fortunate to partner with National Geographic LIVE to present Paul Nicklen's "Polar Obsession" at the Seattle Speaker Series April 19th and 20th at Benaroya Hall. This is an oustanding event for any budding naturalists in your family and will be inspiring for anyone who loves photography. There are still tickets left but expect this presention to be sold out if you wait too long.
20-year-old Environmental Education Campus launches Family Adventures Program in Olympic National Park
Olympic National Park, Wash. (March 15, 2010) — Olympic Park Institute, a campus of NatureBridge, today announced the launch of a new Family Adventures Program. The new programs will give families an opportunity to spend a weekend exploring Olympic National Park, learning about the local environment from world-class naturalists and educators, and making new connections to nature and each other in one of the world’s most breathtaking settings.
My wife, Deb, and I like to boast that our sons, Joey, age 11, and John, 12, have visited nearly every national park west of Mississippi. Yet for all of our trips from our home in Spokane, we had to admit that our family had yet to explore Olympic National Park, on the far edge of our own state.
Last summer, we decided to change that. In early spring, we began planning a road trip through Olympic National Park. Read the full story on familyfun.go.com >>
Learn more about Family Adventure Weekends at Olympic Park Institute.
Chip Jenkins and Karen Baldore of the National Park Service talks about the importance and challenges of engaging youth to the Parks.The National Parks panel discussion was held at the REI flagship store in Seattle on Oct. 1, 2009
Watch just after two minutes for a great mention of Olympic Park Institute!
The upcomming removal of two dams along the Elwha River in Olympic National Park was featured on NBC Nightly News.
Our intention is to help local students understand how watersheds work on the North Olympic Peninsula and to teach them to ask questions about their environment.
Lower Elwha Klallam prepare for removal of two dams that inundated 70 miles of sacred sites and salmon habitat
Exploritas, long known as Elderhostel, is one of the most popular programs available for retired people. Appealing especially for those interested in life-long learning opportunities, their programs combine educational excellence, comfortable accommodations, good food and travel opportunities with other people of the same age.
Environmental Education Campus Hosts Retreat for Military Combat Veterans and Their Families for Weekend of Family Fun, Stewardship, and Learning
The National Park Service finds itself in the midst of a unique nexus of heightened interest.
For six nights last week, 30 million viewers watched the Ken Burns documentary on our national parks. Many park observers are expecting a surge of visitors as a result.
WASHINGTON (Aug. 12, 2009)—Twenty students from Washington state's West Seattle High School will have the unique opportunity to document and learn about the local environment with National Geographic contributing photographer Melissa Farlow during National Geographic Photo Camp Olympic Peninsula. From Sunday, Aug. 16, to Thursday, Aug. 20, the 14- to 18-year-olds will explore Olympic National Park and photograph, edit and design a portrait of the region's ecological landscape. The Photo Camp is presented in partnership with the Olympic Park Institute. Read more at nationalgeographic.com »
The nominee for director of the National Park Service is being praised for his ties to the West -- including direct involvement in proposed Olympic National Park land swaps with the Hoh and Quileute tribes and the removal of the two Elwha River dams -- as he heads toward Senate confirmation. Read the full article »
Rep. Norm Dicks, D-Wash., has two priorities with his powerful posting as chairman of the House Interior and Environmental Appropriations subcommittee, which controls the purse strings of the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and Environmental Protection Agency.
Olympic National Park announced today that $54.7 million in Recovery Act funding will be used to complete nine mitigation projects in preparation for the removal of two dams on the Elwha River, now slated to begin one year earlier than planned in 2011. Olympic Park Institute students have been preparing for this historic event, the nation's largest dam removal to date, by working with local scientists to collect data on the surrounding ecosystem.
In the last days of March, Olympic Park Institute, a campus of NatureBridge, proudly hosted more than 50 military kids and their families during an Operation Purple® Family Retreat, a program of the National Military Family Association and funded by the Sierra Club and the Sierra Club Foundation.
Your contribution helps students participate in life-changing programs in outdoor classrooms.
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Parents say it best
"For me, this kind of trip is far more satisfying than the over-the-top excitement of an amusement park, and I think it was for the kids too.
There were no battles over which toys we'd buy, who would ride in the stroller, or any of the usual stresses that come along with a family vacation. The kids were freer than they are in a park or playground at home."
Contact Us
For general questions: opi@naturebridge.org
Olympic Park Institute
111 Barnes Point Road
Port Angeles, WA 98363
tel 360.928.3720 | fax 360.928.3046