MEA-MFT

Last week Animal Wonders and the animals were honored to meet many Montana teachers. We presented the animals and our educational programs at the MEA-MFT conference that we held right here in Missoula. This was our first time participating in the conference and we had a lot of fun!

It's interesting giving a presentation to an audience that isn't there just to have fun and learn something in the process. Fortunately the teachers were very forgiving of our somewhat juvenile jokes and childlike references. k-4 is of course our target audience, though the adults in our audiences seem to relive their childhood intrigue more often then not. We purposely kept the presentation true to what the teachers could expect in their classroom so they would get a good feel of what we're all about. It's one thing to hear or read about what Animal Wonders does, it's a whole different thing to experience the animals for yourself. We hope that we made some new advocates for live animal education. The Animal Ambassadors are eager to teach about wildlife and their environments in more schools in Montana. Wouldn't it be a wonderful thing if all of our next generation knew what a brush-tailed bettong was, why they are important, and how we can help them and prevent a similar situation from happening again. Click on the link above to read about Quigley our brush-tailed bettong.

Our goal is to spread understanding and knowledge of wildlife and their environments across the state of Montana. We only have one zoo in our entire state and it's not focused on international animals. We would like to change that. By allowing the students to see, feel, learn about, and experience the animals up close in their classrooms, the students will be able to make a connection to the real world. They will be intrigued and inspired to learn more about the animals and their environments. This could lead to a heightened interest in zoology, biology, or general science that they would not otherwise have pursued out of their own curiosity. We hope to inspire that spark in their curiosity which leads to appreciation and enjoyment of science education. We would love if you would like to join us in this vision. Please schedule a presentation or sponsor a school today. We have had numerous requests from schools who are looking for a scholarship or private donation to help sponsor presentations for their students.