Our mission this year was to help the zoo education program create more expedition carts, which is an educational opportunity using specific animals in the zoo for a conservation message. We discussed messages involving animals such as the Snow Leopard and the Fenic Fox, which we used to build connections with guests to provide messages to protect these animals. We also took surveys for the zoo to build a better understanding of what the guests expect from the zoo, and how we can better the zoo in the future. In order to engage guests, I had to be selective with my words and match a fun energy to talk to guests and ensure the conservative message was reached, which lead to wonderful results. If you spark a guest’s curiosity, they would retain that knowledge. For students in my school, I know that sometimes history can be a rough subject to follow, and I want to make sure that a student’s curiosity is always satisfied when they leave my classroom. This is experience has been great, and I do wish that teachers around Idaho have the opportunity to work with the STEM Action Center to develop better relationships with the community.

Grade Level and Subject Taught: High School History teacher