The Tahoe Rim Trail Association, in partnership with the National Association for Interpretation, is offering a professional certification course for individuals who will be delivering interpretive programs or having public contact at interpretive sites.

This training will increase your skills, and make you more confident in creating and presenting interpretive programs for users of the Tahoe Rim Trail.

The training will be conducted on the Trail and at the Tahoe Rim Trail Association office in 
Incline Village, Nevada. Added value to this training is certification as an interpretive guide through the National Association for Interpretation.

The fee for this four-day training is $495.

As a result of this training you will:

• learn new techniques to interpret the Trail to visitors;
• identify the characteristics of interpretive audiences;
• explain why and how interpreters need to relate to their audiences;
• convey the importance of recognizing and providing interpretation for different learning styles;
• understand the need for audience analysis;
• articulate the need for conducting content related research;
• establish the relationship between tangibles, intangibles and universals;
• synthesize information about audience and resources and they apply to programs;
• write a presentation outline;
• demonstrate creative ideas to incorporate into program delivery; and
• demonstrate understanding of the guiding principles of interpretation.

The Certified Interpretive Guide Program (CIG)
This CIG is designed for anyone who delivers interpretive programs to the public. It combines both the theoretical foundations of the profession with practical skills in delivering quality interpretive programming to visitors.

The 32-hour CIG component that is embedded in the workshop includes:

• the history, definition, and principles of interpretation;
• making your programs purposeful, enjoyable, relevant, organized, and thematic;
• using tangible objects to connect audiences to intangible ideas and universal concepts in interpretive programs;
• presentation and communication skills;
• certification requirements (open book exam; program outline; 10-min. presentation); and
• all materials, workbook, and CIG course textbook.

Interpretation Library
The texts used in this training are:
Environmental Interpretation by Sam Ham;
Interpreting Our Heritage by Freeman Tilden;
Interpretation of Natural and Cultural Resources by Knudsen, Cable & Beck;
Interpretation for the 21st Century by Beck & Cable;
Sharing Nature with Children by Joseph Cornell; and
Interpreting for Park Visitors by Bill Lewis.

Registration
Download the registration form here.

Further Information
For more information about the course, please contact Emily Williams, Director of Trail Use, Tahoe Rim Trail Association, emilyw@thaoerimtrail.org. (775) 298-0231, or the instructor, Dr. Alan Leftridge, leftridge@blackfoot.net, 406-754-2940.

Your Instructor
Since 2002, Alan Leftridge has conducted 100 interpretive writing workshops, interpretive guide training, and visitor services seminars in North America. Dr. Leftridge became a Certified Interpretive Trainer in 2001. He is credited with 80 articles and editorials in interpretive magazines, as well as numerous texts for interpretive panels and brochures. Alan was the executive editor of The Interpreter magazine and Legacy magazine, from 1989 to 2008. He has authored four books in interpretation including, Interpretive Writing, Going to Glacier, Glacier Day Hikes, and Seeley-Swan Day Hikes.

Alan lives south of Glacier National Park in the Swan Valley. Before moving to Montana, he spent 25 years teaching interpretation and environmental studies courses at Miami University, Ohio, and Humboldt State University in California. His initial training in interpretation was as a seasonal interpreter in Yellowstone National Park.

Alan Leftridge, Post Office Box 976, Swan Valley, Montana 59826 406-754-2940, leftridge@blackfoot.net, leftridge.com.