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EU students secure seasonal positions with the National Park Service
June 2, 2009
Contact: Paul K. Logsdon, Director of Public Relations and Publications (417) 865-2815, ext. 7292
Dr. Larry Toll with Evangel seniors Virginia Dyer and Michael Campbell in front of the Visitor Center at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield
Caleb Moos, Matt Shomaker, Jesse Moorefield, Michael Campbell and Dr. Larry Toll
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Dr. Larry Toll, associate professor of history at Evangel, has worked extensively to forge relations with federal and state agencies in the field of public history, in order to provide opportunities for his students to explore careers in their majors.
“Seasonal positions can sometimes provide students with part-time jobs during the regular academic year and allow them to start their careers with the agencies that employ them as students,” Toll said.
His work has paid off. This summer, three Evangel history majors will be working in seasonal full-time positions with the National Park Service. Each of these students is exploring a career with the NPS.
Seniors Virginia Dyer and Michael Campbell and sophomore Matthew Kelly have been hired as seasonal rangers at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield in Missouri and Fort Scott National Historic Site in Kansas. Campbell and Dyer were hired last year under a special program that hires full-time students as seasonal rangers. Pending job performance, the program will rehire them each year as long as they are in school, even if they are graduate students.
Additionally, 2008 Evangel alumnus Matt Shomaker worked last year as a seasonal interpreter for Missouri Department of Natural Resources at Fort Davidson State Historic Site. He will return there this summer after he finishes his first year as a history teacher in Warsaw, Mo.
Dr. Toll teaches a class on living history interpretation at Evangel, and is working on developing a minor in public history. He also serves, during the summer months, as a seasonal interpretive ranger at nearby Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield and is active in the field of living history or ‘re-enacting.’
For additional information, contact Dr. Larry Toll at 417-865-2815, ext. 8225 or Meaghan Collier 8215.