Certified Interpretive Guide Training Workshop
August 25-28, 2015
Cincinnati Nature Center
Milford, Ohio 45150
Cincinnati Nature Center 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.
Cincinnati Nature Center (CNC) is a nonprofit nature education organization founded in 1965. We are the largest member-supported nature center in the country, with over 100,000 visitors a year. Our members actively support us by volunteering their time, talents and resources.
Our award-winning trails wind through Eastern deciduous forest, fields, streams and ponds. Rowe Woods in Milford, Ohio is just east of Cincinnati, spanning 1,025 acres (including 65 acres of old growth forest) and offering more than 16 miles of hiking trails. Long Branch Farm & Trails, located in Goshen, Ohio, is just nine miles northeast of Milford, containing 632 acres of forest and farmland with five miles of hiking trails accessible to members only.
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.
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 exam; program outline; 10-min. presentation)
- all materials, workbook, and CIG course textbook
Requirements for the CIG Course
Anyone age 16 or over with a desire to increase their knowledge and skills related to interpretation may participate. Membership in NAI is not required, but NAI members may pay a discounted fee to participate in the program. You can also elect to take the training without becoming certified.
Interpretation Library
If you wish to purchase your own books, NAI offers a discounted package price CIG certification library package (the package price is less expensive for current NAI members). Visit
www.interpnet.com/store or call NAI at 888-900-8283, order the "CIG Certification Library" and have the books shipped to you now. I highly recommended reading the material in advance as it is a lot of material to cover and this will free up your evenings and allow you to focus more on class activities.
Cincinnati Nature Center has three full sets of books which you may utilize during the course so it is not essential to purchase your own copies of the texts.
The texts used are:
Interpreting our Heritage, 3rd Ed., by Freeman Tilden
The Gifts of Interpretation: Fifteen Guiding Principles for Interpreting Nature and Culture, by Larry Beck and Ted Cable
Personal Interpretation (2nd Ed) by Brochu and Merriman
Interpretation: Making a Difference on Purpose by Sam Ham
Cost
- $380 for non-NAI members (includes instructor fee, 1-year membership, certification fee, course materials and refreshments). Lodging and meals are not included.
- $330 for NAI members (must provide current NAI membership number and expiration date with registration)
Instructor
Jason Neumann, CHI, CIT, CIP, CIHT serves as the family programs manager, internship coordinator and summer camp director for Cincinnati Nature Center. With over 19 years in the field, his experience has taken him from a residential camp serving inner city youth to an educational farm to his current position at Cincinnati Nature Center. Training is one of his favorite parts of the job. He is certified as a Heritage Interpreter, Interpretive Planner and Trainer (instructor for interpretive guide and interpretive host) with the National Association for Interpretation (NAI). He received NAI’s Master Frontline Interpreter award in 2002.
Workshop Setting
All workshop activities take place primarily at Cincinnati Nature Center’s Rowe Woods site (4949 Tealtown Road, Milford, OH 45150) but we may also spend a day at our Long Branch Farm and Trails site (6926 Gaynor Road, Goshen, OH 45122).
Schedule
Sessions begin at 8:30 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. each day. Lunch (1/2 hour) and breaks. Participants are encouraged to bring their own lunch and eat in community with their classmates. Light refreshments provided during breaks. Weather permitting, come prepared to head outside.
Lodging and Transportation
You are responsible for your own transportation and accommodations. No transportation service is available to the workshop sites so a car is essential.
Registration
Click here to register.
Further Information
For more information about the course, please contact Jason Neumann at
jneumann@cincynature.org or call (513) 831-1711 ext. 221.