About Learning Happens Here

Learning Happens Here: Empowering Educators, Enriching Classrooms Across North Carolina

Education is a cornerstone of the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources (DNCR). For over 50 years, we have inspired curiosity and a lifelong love of learning through a rich network of museums, parks, historic sites, aquariums, libraries, archives, and other cultural institutions and programs.

DNCR’s statewide Learning Happens Here initiative deepens our commitment to K-12 education by expanding access to high-quality educational programming and strengthening support for North Carolina’s K–12 educators. Through immersive field trips, standards-aligned resources, virtual learning experiences, and engaging professional development opportunities, we aim to:

• Support and retain K-12 educators through year-round, high-quality professional development.
• Expand access to DNCR sites and services through field trip funding and outreach in all 100 counties.
• Enhance classroom engagement with standards-aligned content, virtual field trips, and extracurricular programs that reflect North Carolina’s stories and landscapes.
• Foster lifelong learning through digital exhibits, online collections and resources, and continuing education for K–12 educators and education professionals.

Aligned with DNCR’s 2025–2029 Strategic Plan, Learning Happens Here reflects our mission to enrich the lives of North Carolinians through education and stewardship by improving educational outcomes, strengthening communities, and creating access to learning across all 100 counties.

Browse the Learning Happens Here website to see all the ways DNCR is implementing these priorities!

The Learning Happens Here initiative aims to inspire a lifelong love of learning, promote unity through shared history, foster science literacy, encourage environmental responsibility, and instill a lifelong passion for reading. We hope to enhance the educational landscape of our state and empower the next generation of North Carolinians to thrive in a knowledge-driven world. We invite you to join us in this educational journey, supporting our mission to cultivate lifelong learners and responsible state residents.