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Recreation Skills Education

Pennsylvania’s outdoor recreation opportunities are as diverse as its people and places. Four seasons, mountains, rivers, lakes, and millions of acres of forests and fields serve as the settings for nearly every type of recreation.

DCNR offers programs to guide, educate, and support you as you explore the outdoors and its many recreation opportunities.

Opportunities in State Parks

Do you want to learn how to kayak? Are you a teacher who wants to share your love of hiking with your students? Do you want to introduce fishing to your grandchild?

DCNR offers education for teachers, students, families, and the general public.

GO Teach Workshops

GO Teach Workshops (PDF) are a series of trainings that provide teachers with the skills and background knowledge for a variety of recreational activities.

GO Teach workshops aim to expose Pennsylvania’s youth to healthy lifelong physical activities while creating a sense of responsibility and stewardship to protect the natural resources of the commonwealth.

The lessons are designed for teachers of middle school-aged students, but the lessons may also be adapted for younger and older students.

DCNR currently offers three cross-curricular GO Teach Workshops, which address current academic standards. These workshops explore:

  • Hiking
  • Snowshoeing
  • Geocaching
The lessons focus on:
  • Health
  • Fitness
  • Preparedness
  • Environment and ecology
  • Geography
  • History
  • Art

GO Teach Resources for Teachers

Each GO Teach Workshop provides teachers with a hard and digital copy of the curriculum and lesson plans for each workshop.

In addition, teachers gain access to the GO Teach equipment loaner kits. Access to loaner kits is dependent upon completion of a GO Teach workshop.

If a school or district is interested in this program, a workshop can be scheduled at a school or local state park for a minimum of ten teachers.

To schedule a workshop, contact DCNR's Recreation and Interpretation Program Coordinator.