On a daily basis, 25 to 30 teens invade the zoo to actively help conservation of wildlife. They educate zoo visitors in the family garden about various topics such as worm composition. They also help children pet bunnies and milk an artificial cow in the Discovery Barn.
They even work behind the scenes preparing food for the animals.
For some, such as 15-year-old Cooper Moore, cleaning the snake cages to keep them healthy is their favorite activity. Zoo Corp volunteers even pick up garbage after Zoo Tunes concerts.
Through Zoo Corps, a teen-development program aimed toward wildlife conservation, dedicated teens from around the state have volunteered more than 6,000 hours to Woodland Park Zoo in the last year alone.
Zoo Corps is also reintroducing the endangered Oregon Silver Spot butterfly by growiing blue violets, the butterfly's only source of food.
Started five years ago as Science to Save Wildlife, Zoo Corps debuted its program last year. Since then it has grown and gained immense popularity, said Gregg Burke, education programs and community outreach supervisor.
"Most of the kids that are involved and interested in Zoo Corps, and the ones that are very successful, have some sort of 'Ah ha!' experience when they are kids that brings them close to animals," Burke explained. "They are really involved in the program and really passionate."
Zoo Corps volunteers must be between age 14 and 18. Similar to the other volunteers programs at Woodland Park Zoo, they must apply in order to volunteer. Once accepted, Zoo Corps teens go through an eight- to 10-week training program beginning in March.
Zoo Corp officials believe that they must teach about the environment and wildlife in a positive way, Burke said. He calls it "the conservation hammer."
"You have to try to empower teens to make change. That in turn gives hope for them in the future," Burke said.
The formal and informal interpretive training is held in the Education Center at the zoo, as well as on zoo grounds.
This past year's training, called "Cruis- ing to New Heights with Zoo Corps," began with icebreakers so the teens, as well as staff, could get to know one another.
From there they jumped into lessons in biology, zoology and conservation biology. Not only did they receive in-depth training about world and local conservation issues, they learned about the zoo's history and mission and received specialized training to work in the zoo.
The teens were exposed to information they probably didn't get to in science classes, Burke said.
And Zoo Corps helps fulfill the mandatory 60-hour volunteer graduation requirement for teens who attend Seattle Public Schools, Burke said.
To familiarize the teens with Woodland Park Zoo, they held scavenger hunts and had the teens visit exhibits to find all the information they could on a subject.
The volunteers also ventured out to speak with zoo visitors to work on their people skills.
"I've doubled the 60-hour requirement because it is fun," Moore said. "I like working in any part of the zoo, and the training was fun, too. We learned about stuff like taxonomy and about the zoo. I definitely want to come back."
<"It is important to Woodland Park Zoo to give some kind of venue to incorporate change, to make change happen," Burke said. "The teens really feel like they are making an active change and they really are."
This past year's Conservation Through the Arts program participants wrote and directed a play called "The Awakening: A Tale of the Rain Forest," about how the destruction of a tropical rainforest affects a jaguar and other forest animals.
The play raised more than $500 to buy habitat for the rainforests.
The teens also can apply for one of the 10 paid internships at Woodland Park Zoo.
They must have recommendations from those in the community, as well as the staff they have worked with. The teens must interview and give a five-minute impromptu presentation on their choice of subject.
These Zoo Corps members are considered staff and work full time, five days a week during the summer. They participate in the same activities as the returning advanced volunteers, but they also work on larger efforts such as the Sun Bear research project, in which they are actively recording Sun Bear reproduction behavior.
"It's been a great experience," Burke said with pride. "It's interesting to see a growth program expand while trying to keep it really personalized. I want to make sure [the staff] know each teen's name, what's going on with them. Knowing their specific needs and wants is very important to us because that's what it takes for a teen development program to be successful."
"Zoo Corp opened up the whole conservation part of my love for animals. Helping the animals [at the zoo] has played a big part in what I want to do," 18-year-old Heather Flansburg said.
Burke credited the Woodland Park Zoo's role in Seattle's conservation community for Zoo Corps' success. He said people liked what the zoo does and want to be a part of it.
The program also has succeeded, he said, because of the diversity of its volunteers.
"This is not a program that has diversity as a goal," Burke said. "We really do it. We have teens of all different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. They want to know how they can become zoologists or become veterinarians. They are very interested in their options, and they come here to hone their skills."
Lisa Ro can be reached via e-mail at needitor@nwlink.com.
BR> Some advanced volunteers who return for a second summer can participate in the service programs, Conservation in Action and Conservation Through the Arts.
Conservation in Action is a restoration project in North Seattle's Licton Springs, where teens participate in habitat restoration.
"It is important to Woodland Park Zoo to give some kind of venue to incorporate change, to make change happen," Burke said. "The teens really feel like they are making an active change and they really are."
This past year's Conservation Through the Arts program participants wrote and directed a play called "The Awakening: A Tale of the Rain Forest," about how the destruction of a tropical rainforest affects a jaguar and other forest animals.
The play raised more than $500 to buy habitat for the rainforests.
The teens also can apply for one of the 10 paid internships at Woodland Park Zoo.
They must have recommendations from those in the community, as well as the staff they have worked with. The teens must interview and give a five-minute impromptu presentation on their choice of subject.
These Zoo Corps members are considered staff and work full time, five days a week during the summer. They participate in the same activities as the returning advanced volunteers, but they also work on larger efforts such as the Sun Bear research project, in which they are actively recording Sun Bear reproduction behavior.
"It's been a great experience," Burke said with pride. "It's interesting to see a growth program expand while trying to keep it really personalized. I want to make sure [the staff] know each teen's name, what's going on with them. Knowing their specific needs and wants is very important to us because that's what it takes for a teen development program to be successful."
"Zoo Corp opened up the whole conservation part of my love for animals. Helping the animals [at the zoo] has played a big part in what I want to do," 18-year-old Heather Flansburg said.
Burke credited the Woodland Park Zoo's role in Seattle's conservation community for Zoo Corps' success. He said people liked what the zoo does and want to be a part of it.
The program also has succeeded, he said, because of the diversity of its volunteers.
"This is not a program that has diversity as a goal," Burke said. "We really do it. We have teens of all different ethnicities and socioeconomic backgrounds. They want to know how they can become zoologists or become veterinarians. They are very interested in their options, and they come here to hone their skills."
