Education Articles

Our Work – Articles about Friends’ work regarding education.

Join us for “Apostle Islands in National Geographic: the story behind the story”

Join us for “Apostle Islands in National Geographic: the story behind the story”

The March issue of National Geographic magazine celebrates Wisconsin's Apostle Islands National Lakeshore with the kind of global exposure few other publications can match. “Return to Wild Waters” describes the Islands as a “sublime, yet dangerous playground for kayakers, sailors and powerboaters to explore.” And on March 30th at 7 p.m., you'll be able to experience the story behind the story during a special online event. In the magazine and online, writer Stephanie Pearson and award-winning National Geographic photographer David Guttenfelder captured in words and images the alluring...

Get your copy of the National Geographic feature on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

Get your copy of the National Geographic feature on the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore

The Apostle Islands are a national treasure. In its March 2023 issue, National Geographic magazine celebrates their beauty and importance.The story, "Return to Wild Waters" calls the Apostle Islands a "sublime, yet dangerous playground for kayakers, sailors and powerboaters to explore." Author Stephanie Pearson and photographer David Guttenfelder collaborate to capture in words and images the alluring beauty, the cultural significance, and what the future may hold for this untamed wilderness in northern Wisconsin.  Pearson writes, "... in August 2021, I joined Guttenfelder for a segment...

Full Circle: Second and third grade students from Georgia visit the Apostle Islands on a virtual tour of our national parks

Full Circle: Second and third grade students from Georgia visit the Apostle Islands on a virtual tour of our national parks

Any questions? The hands shot up like fireworks. Can you fish in Lake Superior? Do you have Wi-Fi? Why is it called a national lakeshore and not a national park? Are there bears? With Education as one of our pillars, opportunities to learn and teach others about the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore have always been an important part of the mission of Friends. Recently, Executive Director Jeff Rennicke, a former teacher himself, had the chance to speak by Zoom to the second and third grade students of Ms. Hildebrandt’s class from High Meadows School in Roswell, Georgia.Photo courtesy High...

Friends launches new website focused on discovery and accessibility

Friends launches new website focused on discovery and accessibility

As part of our mission to inspire more people to fall in love with and help us support and protect the park, Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore launched a new website. The new friendsoftheapostleislands.org offers stunning visuals, a new way to discover the park before your next adventure and new tools designed to make the site more accessible to people of all abilities. "The new website showcases the rugged beauty of the islands in a way that touches your heart," said Executive Director Jeff Rennicke. "From there, our goal is to help everyone learn about this wonderful place...

The Apostle Islands School: A Rite of Passage for Chequamegon Bay Youth

The Apostle Islands School: A Rite of Passage for Chequamegon Bay Youth

By Erica Peterson For me, the history of the Apostle Islands School reads like a logbook—full of sketches, personal reflections, images, challenges, and surprising outcomes. It’s stuffed with lesson plans, menus, Ojibwe words, and most importantly, the life changing comments and stories from over five thousand students who spent three special days in the heart of Apostle Islands National Lakeshore.  The Apostle Islands are among the most beautiful places in the world. Lake Superior is a master at carving a landscape, painting a skyscape, adding adventure to any experience, and instilling a...

Badges of honor: Celebrating Junior Rangers

Badges of honor: Celebrating Junior Rangers

Raise your right hand and repeat after the ranger: “I am proud to be a National Park Service Junior Ranger. I promise to appreciate, respect, and protect all national park places. I also promise to continue learning about the landscape, plants, animals, and history of these special places. I will share what I learn with my friends and family.” With that oath, and a completed Junior Ranger booklet, you too can join the millions of people, the young and the young-at-heart, who have become Junior Rangers with the National Park Service (NPS). The NPS Junior Ranger program is an activity-based...

Through a child’s eyes

Through a child’s eyes

The “Most Important Things” book project brings the islands alive through the eyes, and senses, of local fourth graders. When adults gaze out at the Apostle Islands, they may see lighthouses, or a chance for adventure, or the relaxation of miles of sandy beaches to comb. But what does a fourth grader see when she visits the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore? What catches their eyes? What are the most important things in our park to them? A new book, Apostle Islands National Lakeshore: Most Important Things, may just hold the answers. Born out of a collaboration between dedicated fourth...

A is for Apostle Islands—virtual book reception and reading on April 26

A is for Apostle Islands—virtual book reception and reading on April 26

Join this celebration of the Apostle Islands 50th and the forthcoming book A is for Apostle Islands, an ABC book for all ages! Bayfield Poet Laureate Lucy Tyrrell will lead this virtual "page turn" journey from Apostle Islands and Anishinaabe to Zigzag Goldenrod. The 26 contributing artists will talk briefly about their ABC art, and the 26 poets will read their poems. The first 100 attendees can use this  Zoom link https://zoom.us/j/92422641307 with Passcode: 036742. Please join by 5:55 p.m. The program begins at 6 p.m. on April 26th.

Watch now: celebrating the science, arts and future of the Apostle Islands

Watch now: celebrating the science, arts and future of the Apostle Islands

Hundreds watched the virtual Apostle Islands 50th Anniversary Resource Stewardship Symposium event live. If you missed it – or want to watch some of your favorite sessions again – now you can, on the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore website. Watch, learn and enjoy hearing from experts in all aspects of the national lakeshore, as we celebrate the first 50 years of the park we love and look to the future. If you’re a recreational user of the park – a paddler, a camper, a hiker, a sailor, a boater, or a lighthouse lover, the Apostle Islands 50th Anniversary Resource Stewardship...

Lakeshore Logbook – Sheree Peterson

Lakeshore Logbook – Sheree Peterson

As part of our 50th Anniversary celebration, we are collecting and sharing the stories of people connected to the islands, whether they are park guests, former residents or former park employees. This is the ninth in our series called “Lakeshore Logbook,” a collection of memories provided by former National Park Service employees. Living and working in the park on a day to day basis, they’ve experienced a lot to be sure. We hope you enjoy their perspectives. Sheree Peterson worked as a seasonal ranger starting in 1978.  "I came to work at the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore (APIS) in May...