|
 |
THE ARCH AND BEYOND
JNPA'S BOARD
PARTNERS WITH SITES BEYOND THE ARCH TO PROVIDE EDUCATIONAL OUTREACH
|
By Laurie Burstein
The 17-member board of directors of the Jefferson National Parks
Association (JNPA) is behind a new direction in the organization’s
mission. Where the JNPA once only provided educational support for
the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (Gateway Arch and Old
Courthouse), the group now provides educational services to many
other historic sites in St. Louis County and even outside the region.
Today other historical sites take advantage of JNPA’s expertise
in operating on-site educational retail facilities such as museum
stores and gift shops, publishing educational materials distributed
onsite, and participating in a variety of community outreach programs.
JNPA’s partner sites are: Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site
in St. Louis County; the Lewis and Clark Camp River Dubois in Hartford,
IL; the National Great Rivers Museum at Melvin Price Locks and Dam
in Alton, IL; the Mississippi National River and Recreation Area
in St. Paul, MN; and the Lewis and Clark Visitor Center at Gavin’s
Point Dam in Yankton, SD.
JNPA Executive Director David Grove says the organization, with
the board’s leadership, has had to broaden the scope of JNPA’s purpose
for several reasons. “Besides providing educational services to
a wider audience, expanding to other facilities has increased the
financial resource base for the organization, making it less dependent
on the success or failure of one site. This has been very important
since the reduction in Gateway Arch visitation since 2001,” Grove
said. Grove added that all the funds earned are put back into the
sites.
Formed in 1961, JNPA is the educational support arm for the previously-mentioned
historic facilities. Major sources of funding are through the sale
of educational products at museum shops and mail-order catalog sales,
admission to interpretive programs and private donations. Besides
operating onsite museum shops and producing and distributing educational
materials at these facilities, JNPA does much community outreach.
Scheduling in-classroom visits for park rangers, coordinating “traveling
trunk” exhibits for schools, and organizing teacher workshops are
just some of the activities.
Board President Jack Goldman has been involved with JNPA for the
past 12 years and has served as the group’s president for the last
four. He says the organization has been the local community connection
to the Arch and will remain as such. But due to the economic slowdown
of the past couple years, the JNPA Board has supported the effort
to branch out to other historic sites which have become of increasingly
important to the organization.
Goldman is very enthusiastic about a new fundraising program the
Board is supporting called the Arch Fund. “This new initiative acknowledges
in a significant way the pride that local residents have in our
primary site—the Gateway Arch. This includes the introduction of
Missouri license plates featuring the Arch,” he said. Missouri motorists
making a tax-deductible contribution to the JNPA can now upgrade
their license plates and help JNPA while showing their local pride.
Another important part of the Arch Fund program is a 40th anniversary
exhibit at the Arch in 2005. The new program was officially launched
in January and more information can be found at www.archfund.org.
JNPA’s board has gone through many changes itself Goldman acknowledges.
Through strategic planning and analysis, the board has reduced the
size and implemented term limits and director rotation policies
to encourage development of new board members and the infusion of
new ideas. Goldman says the board looks for a new level of sophistication
in its members who can bring strong business and political ties
to the group.
Upcoming activities for the board include hosting a national convention
in St. Louis in March for the Association of Partners for Public
Lands, JNPA’s national peer group. And as always, Goldman says the
board will continue to support JNPA’s priority of keeping the Arch
viable and accessible for everyone. “We want to further engage the
community and expand our public services,” he said.
Laurie Burstein is a St. Louis-based free-lance writer.
|
|
|
|
|
-
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
-
-
- - - - - - - -
- - - - - - - -
-
|
JNPA
