All fourth graders and their families in Santa Cruz County will be able to see America’s most beautiful places next year for free thanks to the county office of education and the U.S. government.

Three-thousand passes to national parks were delivered to the county this month to be handed out in 10 different school districts. They will be given to fourth graders through the end of January, and are good through August of 2024. Students and their families need only flash the pass at the ranger at any of 2,000 national parks. The pass admits all children under 16 and all adults in up to one passenger vehicle.

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Katy St. Clair got her start in journalism by working in the classifieds department at the East Bay Express during the height of alt weeklies, then sweet talked her way into becoming staff writer, submissions editor, and music editor. She has been a columnist in the East Bay Express, SF Weekly, and the San Francisco Examiner. Starting in 2015, she begrudgingly scaled the inverted pyramid at dailies such as the Vallejo Times-Herald, The Vacaville Reporter, and the Daily Republic. She has her own independent news site and blog that covers the delightfully dysfunctional town of Vallejo, California, where she also collaborates with the investigative team at Open Vallejo. A passionate advocate for people with developmental disabilities, she serves on both the Board of the Arc of Solano and the Arc of California. She lives in Vallejo.