Exotic Animal Training and Management Program at Moorpark College

Exotic Animal Training & Management program (EATM) @ America's Teaching Zoo / Moorpark College

In March we drove to Moorpark, CA to visit the America's Teaching Zoo and tour the Exotic Animal Training & Management (EATM) program to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the grounds and talk to some of the current students in the college program. While the acronym "EAT'M" may be a subtle threat to any animal who acts up, the student caretakers had everything and every animal well under control during the tour. They are a premier school for anyone wanting a career in zoo management or exotic animal care and training. 

The Zoo was hosting an open house event with lots of different activities and a special "Exotic Animal Olympics" sketch by the soon-to-be-graduating class. The skits included various animals they have been training during their program performing feats of 'animalness' on the stage. During the program the students learn about zoo management, animal care and dietary needs, animal behavior and training, and animal enclosure design and development. The two EATM guides were gracious with their time to answer questions we all had. By the end of the tour our daughter declared this was where she wants to go after high school. 

The students spend mornings working with the animals - prepping their food, administering medicines, conducting behavioral training and enrichment activities, and cleaning habitats. During the rest of the day they are attending classes or engaged in other learning activities. Once they complete the program they are highly sought after for placement in zoos, animal preserves, and conservation programs.

We were able to watch the Exotic Animal Olympics and enjoy the "ZSPN Anchors" colorful commentary.

The school is part of a 2-year college program with a lot of "hands on" experience. During our visit one student was sitting outside a Hyena cage and reaching through the bars to continuously rub the sleeping Hyena's tummy and you could hear it loudly making the Hyena-equivalent of purring. The student said this was one of the best parts of the program - getting daily contact with the animals and developing a close bond with one over their program.


For more information - http://www.moorparkcollege.edu/current-students/teaching-zoo

Make Your Own Adventure T-Shirts -- Learning to screen print youradventures

Make Your Own Adventure T-Shirts

My daughter and I recently turned our spare bedroom into one big room of crafting. Sewing. painting weaving etc... So it seemed only natural that one day my husband would surprise us with a deluxe screen printing kit. Yes, it would be very easy to design and create a logo and upload it to site and have it professionally done. But where is the adventure in that? Where is the learning and exploring? 

The process is not that difficult and we have highlighted some of the tasks below.  The key for most of the process is working in a light-sensitive environment (which meant working late at night with a special light while prepping the screens and then exposing them with the designs. Our daughter free-hand drew the design for the shirts using a black permanent marker on the translucent film provided in the kit OR you can print a design from a computer using an ink jet printer -- lots of options. 

Once you expose the design on the screen and let it cure using another special light (included in the kit) you use a garden hose to wash out the areas of the screen that were not exposed and cured (which lets the ink get onto your t-shirt). Once the screen is prepped and cured it can last as long as you want it to so you can make more shirts as you need them.

Setting up the shirt and screen for printing is easy with the kit and you can see the results from our very first print below.

There are many kits out there. We used the deluxe kit from http://diyprintshop.com which included everything you need to get started.   We set up in the kitchen late at night and have created two screens so far. The most important lesson I learned was to  SPELL CHECK your logo! But that's ok, perfection is boring.

Its good to get messy and try new things. Who knows, before you know it there my be AZ Field Trip Mom t-shirts for sale soon!