Program:
Field Trips
- Budget:
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- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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Children and Youth (infants - 19 years.)
Program Description:
Supervised, educational field trips for K-12 feature sanctuary tours, personal animal biographies, bio-facts, and other activities aimed at meeting a variety of Indiana’s Academic Standards.
Program Long-Term Success:
Tens of thousands of school-age children visit the sanctuary each spring and fall to enjoy the unique opportunity to see and learn about many exotic and endangered species and to hear from keepers the personal stories associated with why the animals are living at Black Pine, and what they need to survive and thrive. As a direct result of these field trips we have welcomed older students as interns and seen some complete college degrees in animal-related sciences. We are having a direct impact on youth choosing to dedicate their careers to helping animals in need, as well as those who generally care about the environment and all living things.
Program Short-Term Success:
Awareness of the plight of captive-raised and housed exotic animals as pets has increased substantially in our immediate area, the result of many annually repeated field trips from area schools and other educational institutions. Children have been inspired to hold fundraising events and to make the exotic pet trade the subject of school papers, reports, speeches, and more.
Program Success Monitored by:
Feedback via e-mail, phone, mail, social networking, blogs, and more.
Program Success Examples:
One young lady visited with a field trip while in elementary school. On her 10th birthday she asked to visit the sanctuary with her family and close friends as a birthday present. During that visit she asked to volunteer, but was far too young to do so. As soon as she turned 16 years of age, old enough to volunteer, she immediately signed up! She completed our vocational volunteer program during her junior and senior years of high school, volunteering each school day for a grade and experience.
This young woman began her college studies at Hanover College, pursuing a degree in herpetology. She later changed her major and graduated from Indiana-Purdue University Indianapolis with a degree in biology. She is now an Animal Care Technician at the Humane Society of Indianapolis and serves on a local animal advocacy's board of directors. She is just 23 years old and is pursuing the dreams of her childhood, largely due to the support, encouragement, and mentoring she received at Black Pine!
Program:
Internship Program
- Budget:
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- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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Adults
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Youth/Adolescents only (14 - 19 years)
Program Description:
Unpaid internships requiring a minimum of 400 hours of service are offered for college-enrolled students or graduates seeking careers in animal-related fields such as zoology, veterinary, wildlife management, ecology, etc.
Program Long-Term Success:
Since the inception of the college-bound and college-enrolled student internship program more than 50 students have completed the program. Many of these students have gone on to successfully obain degrees in animal-related sciences, and jobs working in laboratories, zoos, national parks, and other institutions. They are working to protect animals and their habitats, and are committed to teaching others about the plight of captive exotic animals.
Program Short-Term Success:
2009 marked the largest "class" of student interns, Eight college-enrolled and recently graduated young adults completed our program, working an average of 50 hours per week for 8-12 weeks each.
Program Success Monitored by:
Facebook group interaction and follow-up by participants; visits from former participants, and other correspondence; letters of recommendation requested.
Program Success Examples:
Some of our former interns are currently employed...
- Animal Emergency Clinic, Veterinary Assistant, Purdue U, IN
- Lee Richardson Zoo, Zookeeper, Garden City, KS
- Brookfield Zoo, Zookeeper, Brookfield, IL
- Creekside Animal Clinic, Veterinary Assistant, Lafayette, IN
- Indian Creek Vet Hospital, Veterinary Assistant, Fort Wayne, IN
- DuPage County Animal Care & Control, Kennel Keeper, Wheaton, IL
- UGA Veterinary School, Research Assistant, GA
- Fort Worth Zoo, Zookeeper, Fort Worth, TX
- Stellhorn Vet Hospital, Veterinary Assistant, Fort Wayne, IN
- Sedgwick County Zoo, Wichita, KS
- Fort Wayne Childrens Zoo, Fort Wayne, IN
- Frank Buck Zoo, Gainesville, TX
- Audobon Zoo, New Orleans, LA
Many more are currently in vet school.
many are still in school.
Program:
Job Shadow Program
- Budget:
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- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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Children Only (5 - 14 years)
Program Description:
Job Shadow opportunities are offered for children ages 12 to 15 years to meet career planning class requirements for several area schools. This program is also used to determine 'readiness' for application to the volunteer program for ages 16 and up.
Program Long-Term Success:
Program Short-Term Success:
Program Success Monitored by:
Program Success Examples:
Program:
Guided Sanctuary Tours
- Budget:
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- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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General Public/Unspecified
Program Description:
Supervised educational sanctuary tours offer the opportunity to observe animal residents as informed guides share the stories of each animal's personal captive history and the events that led to them needing permanent refuge; visitors are informed of the challenges of the exotic pet trade, current state of laws and regulations (or lack of), dangers of owning non-domestic animals, and more. Guests are required to abide by strict rules and expectations of respectful behavior to ensure the animals' comfort at all times.
Program Long-Term Success:
It is primarily through guided sanctuary tours that most adults begin to form a supportive relationship with Black Pine. The general public is largely unaware of the lack of legislation for the regulation of private ownership of exotic (often dangerous) animals. Sanctuary tours are the leading method of development of long-term donors and advocates for our mission.
Program Short-Term Success:
Since formal recordkeeping began in 2008 we have witnessed donor growth from 1396 donors in our database to 2276 in 2011. Sanctuary tours are most significant method of 'recruiting' and identifying donors who ultimately provide the financial support for animal care and education.
Program Success Monitored by:
Giftworks 2012 software database, as well as general feedback through social networking and other internet-based communications.
Program Success Examples:
There are too many to note! There is no doubt Black Pine is educating thousands of people annually beyond what a 'zoo' can provide.
Program:
Vocational Volunteer Program
- Budget:
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- Category:
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Education
- Population Served:
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Youth/Adolescents only (14 - 19 years)
Program Description:
The 'vocational' volunteer program is designed for high school students who qualify to spend a portion of their school day outside the classroom to learn a vocation in a supervised environment. We mentor high school students interested in learning more about careers such as veterinary science, zookeeping, and other animal-related fields.
Program Long-Term Success:
Program Short-Term Success:
Program Success Monitored by:
Program Success Examples: