Teens Teach Kids to Care - Zoo Animal Presenters

July 2011

We had another great year In 2010 as our ZAP members provided a total of 117 live animal outreaches to over 8,400 children and adults. The animal outreaches spanned the greater Portland region from Corbett in the Columbia Gorge to Forest Grove in the Oregon Coast foothills and reached people who might not otherwise have access to this hands-on conservation education.

Second-year ZAP members provided overnights for 277 youth ages 8-11 through the Zoo’s Urban Nature Overnight(UNO) program.  ZAP teens taught the diverse, low income youth how to set up a tent, cook on a camp stove, use a compass and enjoy the outdoors safely.  Swimming in the Sandy River, flying kites on the Oregon Coast,  and looking at the stars at Oxbow Park are just a few of the many highlights from this summer’s adventures.

Third-year ZAP members had an outstanding summer which included collecting native plant seeds for habitat restoration and picking apples for the animals at the Zoo.   Two third-year members spent their summer working in the butterfly lab at the Zoo.  Trimming violas for caterpillar food, cleaning enclosures, and performing meticulous tracking, these butterfly conservation ZAPs learned a great deal about the work involved in restoring a native species. 

Last fall, ZAP teens provided “Animal Predators” after-school  programming for three local community organizations.  The teens brought weekly presentations, games and activities to 90 youth at the centers and lead field trips to Eagle Creek and Bonneville Dam as well as the Zoo.  Youth learned about the importance of predators through this hands-on program and ZAPs honed their teaching skills.

In December, ZAP teens provided composting and earth footprint activities to the winter day camp children on Zoo grounds.  This new initiative was a successful integration of the ZAP teens into the Zoo’s popular day camp program.  With songs and games, the teens taught youth about the joys of composting with worms and empowered youth to have a positive impact on the earth.  We intend to continue this partnership with ZAPs providing activities for the summer day camp program.

This year, we had 90 applicants for the 10 open positions.  A new crew of ZAP teens has completed their animal care and handling training and have been busy presenting outreaches this spring and summer.  2011 also brings the excitement of new potential partnerships and new ways for the ZAP teens to be involved in conservation and nature exploration.   We continue to work to provide the best educational and fulfilling internship for the ZAP teens as they in turn provide great experiences for the regions low income, diverse youth.    We look forward to having great things to report this fall.

Thank you for your past support of our efforts to meet the needs and interests of our community.  We hope that you will continue to support our Zoo Animal Presenters program during 2011!

Sincerely,

Pam McElwee, ZAP Supervisor, Oregon Zoo

Links:

• ZAP Team Overview