A former Vicksburg National Military Park tour guide has been chosen from about 250 applicants to be the park’s new educational instructor.

Superintendent Mike Madell said Wednesday that Melissa Perez, who worked in Vicksburg for three years, was offered the position to build an education curriculum based on the Civil War battlefields, as well as build relationships with teachers and schools to bridge a curriculum into their studies.

“She’s going to be our key person in the education program,” Madell said.

“I hope to foster partnerships to achieve the mutual goal of educating students,” said Perez, who is wrapping up her position as visitors services manager at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, a branch of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in Virginia. “My initial focus will be to improve the park’s outreach to schools.”

Perez, an Ocean Springs native, is a 10-year veteran of the National Park Service.

“Melissa brought several things to the table,” Madell said. “She had worked here earlier in her career, and she’s somewhat familiar with the resources. She’s had positions with the Bureau of Land Management and the fish and wildlife services, where she’s done what we’re going to ask her to do here.”

While at the Bureau of Land Management, Perez was the environmental education coordinator for Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area.

The reason for the new position, Madell said, is to have a designated person work alongside schools to advocate a park role in the curriculum in a time when he believes standardized testing rules classrooms.

“Everything is so tied to curriculum standards now that, if we can’t show a teacher how spending a half day or a day in the park can help them satisfy this particular part of the standard, they’re really reluctant to come out,” he said.

He said the number of visiting school groups to the park has dwindled in recent years, but did not offer any statistics.

Overall park attendance also has declined, he said, citing the economy as a major factor.

He is confident Perez will help bolster the park’s relationship with local schools.

A graduate of the University of South Alabama, Perez will begin in her new position Nov. 8.

“I’ve always had a passion for working with children,” she said. “From talking to my mom and my sister, who both are teachers, I know there are challenges teachers face.”

Madell did not say what Perez’s salary would be, but the position, for which interviews began in August, was advertised to pay $57,408 to $74,628.