Franklin Park Zoo’s First Annual Zoo Careers and
Conservation Workshop for Youth!
By: Toby Klein, Youth Programs Assistant
On Monday, January 19th, Zoo New England had its
first annual Zoo Careers and Conservation Day! Zoo Careers and Conservation Day
was created as an opportunity for youth to explore a future involved in Zoos
and learn how they can contribute to conservation efforts both locally and
nationwide. We invited local youth between the ages of 11-18 to come to
Franklin Park Zoo and participate in a day of learning geared toward their
future aspirations.
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| Youth listening intently at the speed session. |
The day began around 12:30 p.m. with an endangered species
talk presented by Colleen O’Donnell and Toby Klein, along with the help of Teen
Ambassadors and our program animals. The talk focused on different causes that
lead to species being listed as endangered and discussed current efforts to
protect and conserve wildlife and their surrounding environment. The turnout
from youth and parents was fantastic! The participants willingly asked and
answered questions while listening intently, truly interested in the topic of
endangered species.
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| Speed session in the Tropical Forest classroom. |
Immediately following the talk, the participants were split
into two groups: 11-14 year-olds and 15-18 year-olds and escorted to the
Tropical Forest classroom and ECO Center, respectfully. Each group was
introduced to four Franklin Park Zoo employees from a few different departments
during the speed session portion of the day. The employees that participated
were Caitlin Reardon and Jen Maltese from Education, Melissa Durham, Erin
O’Brien, Maggie Sawyer, and Rachel Jakosalem from Animal Care, Hanad Duale from
Community Outreach and Robert George, Executive Vice President and Site
Director of Franklin Park Zoo. A special thank you to everyone for taking time
out of their busy day to talk with everyone! The youth sat down with each employee
for about 10 minutes to hear their story, how they came to work at the Zoo and
what their job duties entail. The youth were engaged, asking thought-provoking
questions that I would never have thought to ask! All of the guest speakers
enjoyed sharing their stories with the youth, as well as the parents who began
joining groups as the session went on. The speed session could have continued
for another hour, but there was one more talk on the agenda to hear!
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| Brian talking about climate change! |
For the last talk of the day, we all met in the Tropical
Forest classroom to meet Brian Stillwell and hear his presentation on climate change.
Brian represented The Alliance for Climate Education (ACE), a group dedicated
to spreading the word to youth about climate change and what they can do to
help, through a fun and interactive slideshow. The entire group was paying
close attention to the information Brian was sharing. His questions were met
with bursts of hands from the audience! Climate change is a popular topic that
the group seemed to relate to and enjoy learning about.
The presentation ended at 3:30 p.m. which, sadly, concluded
our day. After the closing speech, filled with thank-yous and our appreciation to
the participants, the group exited the Tropical Forest classroom with new
knowledge gained from all of the events of the day. We already look forward to
planning next year’s Zoo Careers and Conservation Day with hopes of including
additional Zoo careers, as well as other conservation-based careers to enhance
everyone’s experience.
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| The Alliance for Climate Education Presentation |
