Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo announced Aug. 18, 2022 that a second Zoomobile sponsored by the Pediatric Care Alliance with Connecticut Children’s and Hartford HealthCare is now roaring off to schools in the area.
Contributed / Connecticut’s Beardsley ZooBRIDGEPORT — The coming school year is about to get a little more wild, as Connecticut’s Beardsley Zoo’s second Zoomobile will soon be roaring off to schools and other educational facilities in the region.
“We are now doubling our efforts to get out there and provide programming,” said zoo executive director Gregg Dancho.
In May, the zoo announced that Pediatric Care Alliance with Connecticut Children’s and Hartford HealthCare were the new Zoomobile sponsor for 2022. At that time, the zoo also announced that one of its Zoomobiles — a van that allows zoo staff to provide educational programming at schools — was re-wrapped with a photo of a red panda, and the logos of the zoo and the program’s new sponsors.
On Thursday, the zoo announced that its other van had been re-wrapped with photos of another popular zoo animal — a tiger — and that it would be back on the road this school year. Dancho said the program will also likely get a third Zoomobile in the near future.
Dancho said the two Zoomobiles are expected to visit a total of roughly 30,000 schoolchildren in the coming year.
Depending on the grade level of the children they’re working with, Zoomobile educators provide anything from programs on climate change to visits with the zoo’s “animal ambassadors” — birds, mammals and other critters that travel to schools as a way to educate kids about their species.
During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Zoomobile visits were curtailed, though Dancho said the zoo did offer a lot of educational programs online. But it wasn’t the same, he said.
“Nothing takes place of seeing one of our ambassador animals up close and personal,” Dancho said. “I think that makes a huge difference in how our students learn.”
Not only do the Zoomobiles offer education, they also serve as a mobile reminder that Connecticut’s only zoo is right here in the Park City,” Dancho said.
“They become a sort of roving billboard for us,” he said.