LATROBE, PA – Justin Patenaude, C’25, has combined his thirst for adventure and devotion to teaching by embracing a rewarding career in the National Park Service.
Having participated in the junior ranger program as a young child at Acadia National Park in Maine while on summer vacations with his family, Patenaude dreamt of one day being a National Park ranger. As he progressed through high school, Patenaude felt called to work with children, so he decided to pursue early childhood education studies.
When exploring postsecondary education opportunities, the Connecticut native looked beyond his home state’s borders and closely examined Pennsylvania’s undergraduate offerings thanks to a handful of enjoyable visits to the commonwealth.
“I wanted a small school with a strong education program,” Patenaude recalled, “and the philosophy of Fred Rogers and the school’s commitment to the principles he encouraged really interested me. At that time in my life, I was sure that I wanted to be a teacher. Upon touring Saint Vincent for the first time, I was immediately impressed by the school.”
One of the selling points for Patenaude, who graduated in 2022 from Xavier High School in Middletown, Connecticut, was that he would get to be in a classroom training to be an educator as early as his second semester at the College. In addition to an early childhood education major, Patenaude minored in disability studies as he aimed to learn to better differentiate instruction.
During his summers off from the College, Patenaude continued to pursue his dream of a National Park Service career. Prior to his senior year, he worked during the summer as a park ranger at Salinas Pueblo Missions National Monument in New Mexico. Looking back, the life-changing summer showed Patenaude that education does not have to live exclusively in a classroom setting. “This is where my goals shifted to combine my love of education with my love for the National Park Service,” he said. Later, during the fall 2024 semester, Patenaude gained invaluable experience as a volunteer ambassador at the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville.
Following Commencement at Saint Vincent College in May 2025, Patenaude kicked off a six-month seasonal assignment in Acadia National Park. His duties included working as a front-line staff member in the Visitor and Resource Protection Division, checking park passes and informing visitors about the park as they entered. He also had ample opportunities to participate on roves around populated areas to check in with visitors and teach them about the park. Patenaude also was trained to be a part of the park’s search and rescue team.
After this seasonal position closed in November 2025, Patenaude later advanced to the Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park in Johnson City, Texas, for a Student Conservation Association internship. These are competitive, volunteer-based roles in which interns support a park’s cultural and natural preservation, learning federal conservation practices while sharing history with the public. Patenaude worked as an interpretation and education intern in Texas to advance his National Park Service experience.
In addition to fulfilling normal park ranger duties, Patenaude worked on all the education curricula and connected with visiting students as he taught Texas frontier history in a living history format.
“When schools came to visit the park, I dressed up as a cowboy named Giddy-up Gus and taught kids about my experiences on the cattle drives,” he said. “I gave kids a chance to imagine what life was like during that time period and described the dangers that people faced in order to make a living.”
Patenaude would then read the students an original story called “The Legend of the Great Armadillo,” which he wrote as an example of the stories that would’ve been told on the Chisholm Trail, an 800-mile stock and wagon route used from 1867 to 1884 to walk Texas longhorns to Kansas railroads. He also taught the students to use a rope so they could try being cowgirls and cowboys themselves.
To succeed in this position, Patenaude said he tapped into many lessons learned from Teaching of Social Studies for Early and Special Learners, a course instructed by Dr. Kathleen Beining, assistant professor of education at Saint Vincent. “The class really inspired me because it was focused on working history into lessons, which commonly is skipped in education today,” Patenaude said.
He also enjoyed Teaching of Science for Early and Special Learners instructed by Dr. Aaron Sams, another assistant professor of education at the College. “Lessons that they taught me in these classes still impact me today as I try to find creative ways to teach social studies and science to my students,” Patenaude said.
The standout Bearcat alumnus also tackled creating a touch table exhibit for children visiting the Texas park. The table serves as a tactile center where children can complete simple activities relating to the categories of communication, transportation, clothing and ranching. In these activities, children can try out different items from former President Johnson’s lifetime and see how things have changed throughout the years.
“This opportunity allowed me to gain experience that I will continue to use as a park ranger,” Patenaude said. “I am grateful that all of this training has prepared me for my next adventure.”
After the internship in Texas ended in April, Patenaude began working in May as a park ranger at Mount Rushmore National Memorial where he educates visitors about the memorial’s construction and helps them derive meaning from the sculpture. He also presents three interpretative programs throughout the day: a Sculptor Studio Talk that discusses the workers and shows tools from the carving era; a guided walk while explaining the challenges that occurred throughout the carving era; and a 10-minute memorized speech that he presents during the evening lighting ceremony, a patriotic program that brings thousands to the park each night.
“I had the honor of being selected to give it on July 4, on the 250th anniversary of our great country,” Patenaude said. “Here, I had 3,000 people in attendance and I had the opportunity to remind them what makes our country so great.” His talk focused on how America has overcome challenges over the past 250 years and specifically focuses on the four presidents memorialized at Mount Rushmore and how they persevered despite challenges. “I end on a charge by describing that those four presidents are symbols of American strength and unity,” Patenaude said. “Our country is so great because of each one of us.”
He expects to be in South Dakota until November 2026.
“My goal is to eventually settle down at a park and become the lead education ranger,” Patenaude said. “I love getting to teach students in an outdoor setting and I want to use my education background to create materials and programs to inspire children to become more interested in the beautiful country we live in.”
Fulfilling duties for the National Park Service merely scratches the surface, however. Patenaude continues to embrace the College’s liberal arts values with a wide range of interests, including locomotives, earning a conductor’s license from the Downeast Scenic Railroad, a heritage railway in Ellsworth, Maine.
His fascination with trains was borne as a young boy and his interest grew in high school when he joined its Railroad Club. Trains have remained a constant in Patenaude’s life no matter his location. “Some of my fondest memories in college were doing schoolwork at the Latrobe train station after class,” he recalled.
During his first season with the National Park Service in 2024, Patenaude volunteered as a site docent with New Mexico Heritage Rail in Albuquerque. The following December while home in Connecticut over Christmas break, he volunteered with the Railroad Museum of New England as a car attendant on a Christmas train assisting families on their merry way to the North Pole to visit Santa Claus.
Later, when he relocated to Maine and began volunteering at the Downeast Scenic Railroad, he set a goal to become a certified conductor before he left the state. “I was first qualified as a car attendant pretty early on in the season, but it took about four months before I began conductor training,” Patenaude said. “Two months later, I left Maine with my fancy hat and a signed certification card. While railroading isn’t my career, it is a side mission that challenges me in new ways. I really fell in love with conducting and know it’s something that will absolutely follow me as my life keeps progressing. Leadership opportunities that I was given by the Saint Vincent College Education Department gave me the confidence to take charge as conductor.”
Patenaude now spends a portion of his weekend time at the Black Hills Central Railroad in Hill City, South Dakota, as a brakeman and a fireman. As part of his duties, Patenaude helps operate the oil-burning steam locomotives which power the trains. “My job is to maintain the proper steam pressure throughout the trip to power the locomotive and all its appliances,” he said. “I am also tasked with preparing the locomotive for operations as well as filling the tank with water at each station.”
In addition to gaining a wealth of experience through his love of trains and at multiple National Park Service locations, Patenaude is working through a graduate program at Slippery Rock University and is on track to earn a Master of Education in environmental education in December 2026.
“I am incredibly proud of Justin and the way he lives out both his love for adventure and his commitment to teaching,” said Dr. Tracy McNelly, chair of the College’s Education Department. “Justin has taken the skills, dispositions and credentials he developed as an educator and applied them in powerful, authentic ways through the educational programming he delivered at Lyndon B. Johnson National Historical Park. He reminds us that education is not confined to a traditional classroom; learning happens wherever curiosity is sparked, stories are shared and experiences are thoughtfully designed. Justin embodies the very best of what it means to be an educator.”
