Michael T. Walker

Michael at Raven Rock State Park's new Kids in Parks track trail 

What do you do?
I am a park ranger at Raven Rock State Park in Harnett County. I have been working with North Carolina State Parks since 2012. I am the lead natural resource ranger as well as the volunteer coordinator for the park.



What was your favorite part of earning your certification?
My favorite part of earning my environmental education certification was meeting a wide range of educators from across the state and learning from them. I learned a lot from listening to other educators who have tried different ideas and we all shared experiences that can help one another reach more people through environmental education. Traveling around for different workshops and meeting the wide range of educators has taught me how to be a better environmental educator.

What certification experience stands out for you?
The certification experience that stands out for me has to be my community partnership project where we had a grand opening for our TRACK Trail. For the grand opening we had a great turnout and had great support from the community. A representative from Kids in Parks, along with the Friends of Raven Rock State Park and many park visitors were also in attendance. After a ribbon cutting ceremony, I took all of the kids on a hike using some of the materials for the TRACK Trail. I had a blast doing the hike with all of the energy from the kids in attendance and they were so excited to be there.

Tell us more about your community partnership project and how it affected the community? 

Kids in Parks Track Trail Hike

My community partnership project was working with Kids in Parks, which is an initiative funded through the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation, the Blue Ridge Parkway, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation. Through this partnership, we created a TRACK Trail sign and 4 different brochures that were to be used on the sign. The goal of the TRACK Trail is to get kids outdoors and active. Once kids finish the brochure, they log their hike in on the Kids in Parks website and receive a free prize in the mail. The TRACK Trail at Raven Rock State Park is just one of many across the state and the country. We opened the trail with a grand opening ceremony and an inaugural hike led by me.