The Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks 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.

The fee for this four-day training is $450.

The CIG program
The Certified Interpretive Guide program 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.

As a result of this training you will be able to:

• Demonstrate the understanding that interpretation is a profession
• Identify the characteristics of interpretive audiences
• Explain why and how interpreters need to relate to their audience
• Convey the importance of 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 audiences and resources
• Write a presentation outline
• Demonstrate understanding of the guiding principles of interpretation

This 32-hour course includes:

• 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 literature review; program outline; 10-min. presentation)
• all materials, workbook, and CIG course textbook

The texts used 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;
• Interpreting for Park Visitors by Bill Lewis.

Your presenter is
Alan Leftridge, who is a former seasonal naturalist in Yellowstone National Park, and the 2009 recipient of the Fellow Award from the National Association for Interpretation. He earned a Ph.D. in science education at Kansas State University, and a teaching credential from the University of Montana. He has taught high school science in West Yellowstone, science courses at Miami University, Ohio, and environmental studies classes at Humboldt State University, California. He is past editor of The Interpreter magazine and author of Interpretive Writing.

Registration
Download the registration form here.

Further Information
For more information about the course, please contact Alan Leftridge at leftridge@blackfoot.net or call 406.754.2940. or Loren Flynn at lflynn@travelersrest.org.