Buddy Bison's Buzz - February 2012


	Visiting the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC	Hiking at Shenandoah National Park, VA	Hanging out with some friends at Lake Mead, NV

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Dear Kids,

This February there are some fun ways to plan your park adventure. Visit my new and improved website www.buddybison.org, where you can play fun games, see a map of where I’ve been around the country, fill out a really cool activity book and find a nearby park to play. Then you will be ready to explore outdoors! The parks are yours!

Make sure you have your parents help you sign up to visit a nearby park for National Kids to Parks Day on May 19, 2012!

Happy Adventuring,

Buddy Bison

Deadline for National Kids to Parks Day Classroom Contest: March 1st!

Tell your parents and teachers: the deadline for NPT's first annual National Kids to Parks Day Classroom Contest is March 1st!

This new national contest is open to all schools across the country and in the U.S. territories. The theme of this year’s contest is “Explore outdoors, the parks are yours!” You can submit your contest entry by clicking here. It's easy to do! NPT will award scholarships up to $1000 to winning entries. Awards will be used for your National Kids to Parks Day trip, so make sure you tell your parents and teachers to help you enter!

Remember: the deadline for entries is Thursday, March 1st. Winners will be announced Monday, March 19th.

NATIONAL KIDS TO PARKS DAY IS MAY 19, 2012.

Visit www.kidstoparks.org for more information.

Buddy Bison Has a New Website! www.buddybison.org

I’ve made some big changes to my website! Now, when you visit www.buddybison.org, you will see a place marked “for kids”. When you click there you will be taken to a special page just for you! This page has school galleries, games, videos, pictures, a map of where I've been, a cool activity book, adventure stories from kids like you and much more! See you there!

Central Park School Gets Creative With Nature Poems

My friends from the Central Park School for Children in Durham, NC spent a lot of time creating some wonderful acrostic poems based on their experiences with nature. To see all of the students' poems, click here.

Aloha! Beauvoir's Pre-K Learns about Hawaii at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC

The Panda class in Pre-K from Beauvoir, the National Cathedral Elementary School loved having me come with them to the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, DC. We got to see many beautiful Hawaiian plants such as orchids and anthurium. My favorite flower was the Bird of Paradise which actually looks like a blue bird with orange feathers on his head. The Pandas and I learned a lot about Hawaii and had a great time!

Deerfield Elementary Learns to Keep Our Waterways Clean

The students from Deerfield Run Elementary School in Laurel, MD went to a nearby stream to check its water quality using nets and bowls. The first thing they observed was that the water wasn't very clear. So, they immediately used one of the bowls to take a sample of the water. It was green. The kids and their Buddy Bison teacher Seth hunted for microorganisms for 30-40 minutes but the only things they found were shells and dead organisms. The Deerfield students learned that it is very hard for most organisms to survive in areas that are polluted.

Buddy Bison's Adventurer of the Month – Tim from Utah

Congratulations to Tim from Utah – my Adventurer of the Month for February! Tim and his family brought me along on their journey through Zion National Park in Utah. To read more about Tim's adventure, click here.

PARENT / TEACHER CORNER

Save the Date

The Second Annual National Kids to Parks Day is May 19, 2012!

Last year over 15,000 families participated in our inaugural event, and this year we are expecting plenty more.

You can pledge to participate in this year's event by visiting www.kidstoparks.org.

Contact Billy Schrack at william@parktrust.org or 301-279-7275 ext.17 for more information.

KTP School Contest

Calling all teachers: the deadline for the National Kids to Parks Day Classroom Contest is March 1st!

You can submit your contest entry by clicking here.

BuddyBison.org Has a Brand New Look!

Our Buddy Bison website was created just for kids, and now features brand new tools to get them excited about getting active and exploring outdoors at our nation's parks!

www.buddybison.org

Get Social with Buddy

We have selected the last two winners for Buddy Bison's Adventurer of the Month based on pictures submitted to our Facebook page!

Make sure you join us on Facebook and Twitter and upload all of your pictures with Buddy Bison – maybe you could be the next Adventurer of the Month!

Buddy Bison wants you to visit, explore and protect our nation’s parks. Bring him along as you roam and tell everyone Where Buddy Bison’s Been!

National Park Trust / 401 E. Jefferson Street, S. 102, Rockville, MD 20850
301-279-PARK (7275) / adam@parktrust.org / www.buddybison.org

Buddy Bison

Buddy Bison, NPT's pint-sized wooly mascot encourages kids to "explore outdoors, the parks are yours!" Visit buddybison.org to learn more. Proceeds from the sale of Buddy Bison benefit National Park Trust's Kids to Parks Scholarship Fund. After getting Buddy, share the photos of your adventures with us!

NPT Honors Representative Mike Simpson

National Park Trust presented Representative Mike Simpson of Idaho with the Bruce F. Vento Public Service Award for his remarkable record of creating bipartisan solutions for preservation.
National Fishing and Boating Week Kick-Off!

On June 3^rd, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined more than 200 of our DC area Buddy Bison schools on the Anacostia River for the National Fishing and Boating week kick-off event, as part of the President’s America’s Great Outdoors initiative. Click here for more!
NPT Unveils New Logo!

NPT is continuing to grow and flourish and as we hit our 30 year anniversary. We are pleased to publicly unveil our new logo.

"Our new logo is strong enough to uphold our tradition of land preservation and fun and modern enough to incorporate our education programs like Buddy Bison and National Kids to Parks Day. We are very excited to share this new logo with you today," said Grace Lee, executive director.
Kids to Parks Day Success!

More than 138,600 kids and families explored local, state, and national parks and other public lands for National Kids to Parks Day 2013! Click here to read about the success of the event!

Buddy Bison's Buzz - February 2012

NPT Unveils New Logo!

Kids to Parks Day Success!