National Park Trust Announces 2025 Kids to Parks Day School Grant Recipients
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 4, 2025
126 Title I Schools Representing 38 States and D.C. to Benefit
Washington, D.C. (March 4, 2025) – National Park Trust is pleased to announce the recipients of this year’s Kids to Parks Day School Grants Program. The annual grants are awarded to under-resourced schools to help students discover and explore parks, public lands, and waters in celebration of National Kids to Parks Day. Organized by National Park Trust, Kids to Parks Day is an annual nationwide day of outdoor play celebrated every third Saturday in May at public lands and waters across the United States.
This year’s school grants program saw a 28% increase in grant applications over last year.
The 170 grant recipients representing 126 schools received up to $1,000 to fund their park trip, with the Park Trust awarding a total of $177,000. This year’s program will benefit more than 8,600 students in grades pre-K through 12, representing 38 states, Washington, DC, and American Samoa. In some cases, more than one grade or classroom in a school applied for and received a grant.
This grants program is designed to be student-driven, and student-teacher collaboration is required. Students and teachers addressed the three pillars of the Park Trust’s Youth and Family Programs in their applications: education: how they will use their local park as an outdoor classroom; health and wellness: how they will take advantage of outdoor recreation activities; and stewardship: what project they will undertake to benefit the park and/or the environment directly.
“We are pleased to empower students across the country to celebrate National Kids to Parks Day by providing them with the resources to visit, enjoy, and steward our public lands and waters. This year, a record number of teachers requested park trip funding that will benefit their students’ mental and physical well-being and address the rising costs for school bus transportation.”
Grace Lee, National Park Trust executive director
Highlights of this year’s grant proposals:
- •125 public land sites will be visited, including national, state, and local parks and historic sites.
- •102 elementary school classrooms, 35 middle school classrooms, and 33 high school classrooms were awarded grants.
- •Trips will range from Red Rock State Park (AZ) to Hakalau Forest National Wildlife Refuge (HI) to Acadia National Park (ME).
For the complete list of 2025 Kids to Parks Day School Grants recipients, visit https://parktrust.org/2025-kids-to-parks-day-school-grants-program-grantees/.
ABOUT NATIONAL PARK TRUST
National Park Trust’s mission is to preserve parks today and create park stewards for tomorrow. Since 1983, the Park Trust has acquired many of the missing pieces of our national parks, benefiting 55 national park sites across the country. Our national youth education and family initiatives, including our Buddy Bison, College Ambassador and Military Family Programs, and National Kids to Parks Day, serve tens of thousands of children annually and cultivate future park stewards. We believe our public parks, lands, and waters should be cared for, enjoyed, and preserved by all for current and future generations. Find out more at parktrust.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Ivan Levin at 540.818.5818 or ivan@parktrust.org.
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