A new initiative will connect several hundred teachers in North Carolina with the resources of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park over the next four years.

The program, sponsored by a $105,000 grant from North Carolina’s GlaxoSmithKline Foundation, will give teachers hands-on science discovery in the park.

“Our goal is to involve teachers in actual research occurring in the park so they can obtain first-hand experience in using the scientific method,” said Susan Sachs, a resource education ranger stationed at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center. “We will give teachers and teachers-in-training the tools, information, and comfort they need to make inquiry-based learning interesting for their students, too.”

Inquiry-based learning is a new approach to teaching science in North Carolina’s public schools. The grant will support at least four training modules each year for 80 to 100 teachers from throughout North Carolina.

The North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation is based in the Research Triangle Park. The foundation supports programs that emphasize the understanding and application of health, science and education at all academic and professional levels, with a focus on future generations.

The grant was secured by Friends of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, a non-profit organization that raises funds and recruits volunteers for park projects and programs.

The progam will be based at the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center, an educational and science research station perched on the Catalooche Divide in the Haywood County portion of the park above Jonathan Creek.

For more information, call Sachs at 828.926.6251 or go to www.friendsofthesmokies.org.