Thanks to strong sales of North Carolina’s Friends of the Smokies special license plate, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is expanding its educational programs for kids.

Friends of the Smokies has earmarked $20,000 from the plate funds to hire a park ranger to do educational programs with students for 10 months of the year.

During the school year, the ranger goes into the classroom and brings students into the park for programs that mesh with the curriculum. Called Parks as Classrooms program, it is available to grades K through 8 for any school in Western North Carolina that signs up.

A major focus of the summertime offerings is the park’s Junior Ranger program. Through this program, the park invites children ages 5 through 12 to learn about the natural and cultural resources of the Great Smoky Mountains. Approximately 4,500 children from all over the country participate in this program every year. Children are encouraged to attend at least one ranger-led program as part of their Junior Ranger training.

Summertime education programs are listed in the park’s quarterly newspaper, “Smokies Guide,” which is available at park visitor centers. These programs are also listed online on the park’s Web site – www.nps.gov/grsm/gsmsite/ranger-led5.pdf.

Launched in 1999, the Smokies license plate is the best-selling specialty tag in North Carolina, raising a grand total of more than $620,000. In addition to educational programs, the Smokies plates are supporting the experimental return of elk to Cataloochee Valley, trail improvements, and protection of the park’s hemlock trees from a deadly exotic insect.

“The license plate program continues to make a meaningful impact on both the park and its visitors,” said George Ivey, director of the Waynesville office of Friends of the Smokies. “We appreciate each and every person who has bought or renewed their Smokies plate in the last year.”

Of the extra $30 annual fee for the specialty tag, $20 goes to Friends of the Smokies to support projects and programs on the North Carolina side of the park. The Smokies plate is available any time from any local North Carolina license plate agency office.