CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Fourth-grade students and their families can visit national parks across Texas for free thanks to a park pass program.
The program Every Kid in a Park allows free access to hundreds of parks, lands and waters for an entire year.
Padre Island National Seashore education coordinator William "Buzz" Botts said earning a pass is easy.
"You take a short little class online. Then you print out a piece of paper with a bar code on it and bring it to the park you are going to visit, if it issues charges (or) fees. They will be able to give the child their own pass that's good for the year to all national parks," Botts said.
Botts said that in 2017, 400 environmental education programs were presented to about 17,000 Corpus Christi-area students.
John Minners, 10, visited a park and learned about marine derbies, pollution and animal adaptations.
"I think its important to take care of the environment because we live in the environment, and it's important to take care of ourselves," Minners said.