Presenting for the Park Rangers Association of California

When I first created Traveling Miss T., I never imagined I’d one day be standing in front of a room full of California park rangers, modeling how to teach coordinate planes using my very own Math Maps ©. 

And yet, there I was at the Park Rangers Association of California 2026 Conference. Not just as a guest speaker, but as a former classroom teacher turned mapmaker, showing park interpreters how math can become a bridge between parks and classrooms.

From Classroom to Public Lands

Before Traveling Miss T., I was a middle school teacher trying to answer a question I heard constantly:

“When are we ever going to use this?”

Math felt abstract to many students. But the moment I connected it to place (real mountains, real coastlines, real public lands) everything changed.

At the conference, I shared how I use math mapping with my partners to explore California’s iconic landscapes. From the tide pools of Cabrillo National Monument, to the desert ecosystems of Joshua Tree National Park, instead of worksheets filled with random points, students graph trailheads, visitor centers, and landmarks. They calculate distance between ecosystems. They interpret scale. They tell stories with data.

Modeling Instruction for Rangers

My goal at the conference wasn’t to present a product. It was to model instruction.

Many interpreters are master storytellers. They know their landscapes intimately. What they often don’t have is a structure for aligning their expertise with classroom standards.

That’s where I see my role. As an educator, I translate between two worlds: The standards-driven classroom and the mission-driven public lands professional. When those worlds collaborate, students win.

Interpreters as Educators

One of the most powerful moments of the conference was watching rangers step into the role of classroom teacher during our hands-on math mapping session.

They graphed. They colored. They got creative with stickers.

Building a Bridge

Traveling Miss T.’s mission has always been about connection. Connecting math to place, students to geography, and educators to creative instruction. Presenting at the Park Rangers Association of California reinforced something I deeply believe: Rangers are educators. Teachers are interpreters. And together, we can build something far more powerful than either group alone.

My goal moving forward is to continue building partnerships between classroom teachers and park interpreters. Co-creating lessons, aligning standards, and making parks accessible even to students who may not yet have the opportunity to visit them. Because when a student in a landlocked classroom graphs a point representing a real place, they are doing more than practicing math.

They are imagining themselves there. And they are transported there through imagination by Coordinate Plane. And sometimes, imagination is the first step toward stewardship.

Traveling Miss T. is now a new proud member of the Park Rangers Association of California! Thanks for having me!

About Traveling Miss T.

Traveling Miss T. creates coordinate plane worksheets that make learning creative, meaningful, and interdisciplinary. Math Maps © help educators bring curiosity, adventure, and exploration into every classroom.