Day 5 | Indiana Dunes National Park: The Playlist Keeps Playing

​Every STEAM in the PARK week has its own soundtrack.

Some weeks are quiet ballads. Some are full of adventure anthems. Others are songs you don't realize you'll remember until long after the music has ended.

Indiana Dunes has been all of those.

It began with "Here Comes the Sun." Twenty-four educators arrived from across the country, carrying different stories, different experiences, and different expectations. By the end of the week, those individual melodies blended into something far richer—a chorus of encouragement, curiosity, and friendship.

There were moments that deserved "Walking on Sunshine." We wandered through Miller Woods searching for monarch eggs, climbed towering dunes, laughed our way through karaoke, paddled across the waters of Lake Michigan, explored the Great Marsh, discovered the secrets of ecological succession, and somehow managed to find joy in nearly every hour. Even the moments that left us sweaty, sandy, and a little exhausted became part of the rhythm of the week.

Some memories sounded more like "Three Little Birds." We learned that nature has a remarkable way of reminding us that things have a way of working out. Whether watching pollinators, studying dunes shaped by wind and waves, sitting quietly during our Wave Break along the shoreline, or simply noticing the beauty hidden in the smallest details, Indiana Dunes kept whispering the same message: notice more, worry less.

The laughter, though, deserves its own song. Maybe it was "Happy." Maybe it was "Don't Stop Me Now." Maybe it was a song without words because no title could ever capture the sound of friends laughing until tears rolled down their faces during free time, campfires, boat rides, meals, and one more inside joke that somehow became part of camp history. If Glacier gave us quiet reflection, Indiana Dunes gave us contagious joy. The laughter became the soundtrack playing underneath everything we experienced together.

There were moments that felt like "Stand by Me." We encouraged one another on long hikes, celebrated each other's successes, shared stories that mattered, and discovered once again that community isn't built in one grand moment. It grows through hundreds of small acts of kindness, shared conversations, helping hands, and the simple decision to keep showing up for one another.

As we packed this morning, another song quietly found its way onto the playlist: "On the Road Again." Our time among the black oaks, shifting dunes, monarchs, Great Marsh, and the incredible team at the Dunes Learning Center has come to an end. To Ranger Erin, Erin Croft, Leo, Kayleigh, Bethany, Joe, and every educator, staff member, volunteer, and behind-the-scenes supporter who welcomed us so generously—thank you for allowing us to become part of your story this week. You reminded us that Indiana Dunes is far more than a beautiful landscape. It is a place where restoration happens—in habitats, in communities, and sometimes in ourselves.

Now the playlist changes once again. The next song is "Leaving on a Jet Plane." Tomorrow we fly toward Voyageurs National Park, where forests meet water, where canoes have carried stories for generations, where loons call across quiet lakes, and where another group of educators is waiting to write the next chapter with us. The scenery will change. The wildlife will change. The lessons will change. But the heart of STEAM in the PARK never does.

Different park. Different songs. Different adventures. Yet the same purpose continues to guide us. We leave Indiana Dunes with sand still tucked into our shoes, laughter still echoing in our hearts, and gratitude that is impossible to measure. Thank you for being part of this week's soundtrack. The music isn't ending. It's simply carrying us north, where a new melody is waiting to begin.