![\"faculty_nagle\"](\"http:\/\/feedproxy.google.com\/assets\/1258\/nagle.jpg\" "\\"faculty_nagle\\"")
Notre Dame Professor of Law John Nagle spends Thursday afternoons in the classroom. That\u2019s not unusual for a University professor\u2014except that his classroom is at Covenant Christian School, and his students are in grades 5-8.<\/p>\n Notre Dame Professor of Law John Nagle spends Thursday afternoons in the classroom. That\u2019s not unusual for a University professor\u2014except that his classroom is at Covenant Christian School, and his students are in grades 5-8.<\/p>\n
A specialist in environmental law, Nagle wrote a chapter on the law governing the management of national parks for his latest book, due to be published by Yale University Press in spring 2010. That expertise, combined with the timeliness of a recent PBS<\/span> broadcast on the subject of national parks, convinced him to share his knowledge with this young group of budding environmentalists.<\/p>\n \u201cThese kids plainly, really care about the environment,\u201d says Nagle, whose two daughters attend the school. \u201cThey have a keen appreciation for its importance.\u201d<\/p>\n Nagle adds that, so far, the students have completed an assignment to identify the national park that they would most like to visit, and have suggested places that should be named national historic sites. \u201cOne student suggested that Fort Hood should be recognized as a national historic site in the aftermath of the tragic shootings there, which shows that the students understand how history unfolds before their very eyes,\u201d Nagle observed. They also discuss topics such as national park land use and the conflicts that arise, such as wanting to snowmobile through Yellowstone versus wanting to maintain a more pristine landscape.<\/p>\n Nagle understands the impact that exposure to a subject early in life can have on one\u2019s adult choices. \u201cMy family took a trip to Door County, Wisconsin, when I was about ten years old,\u201d he explains. \u201cMy mom woke me up at 6:30 a.m. for a hike through the woods to see cedar waxwing birds. I wasn\u2019t so happy about getting up early for a hike at the time, but it\u2019s one of my favorite memories now.\u201d He went on to study environmental policy at Indiana University before attending the University of Michigan Law School.<\/p>\n