The second Saturday of every month, a small group of regulars meets in front of the San Diego Zoo e-a-r-l-y in the morning. Deborah takes roll call as young people arrive and Dian checks in with their parents. Dan is there with a smile and a hearty hello. And Deirdre and I greet them, gather them up, and head off into the Zoo to meet up with Joe.

This isn't just any group of regulars, though. They are participants in the Children's Rainforest Art Explorer program, hosted jointly by the Zoo and the SUCCESS Optimist Club and consisting primarily of pediatric oncology patients and their families from Kaiser Permanente San Diego.

The program sprung originally from the minds of Bob and Georgia Langhorst, founders of San Diego's SUCCESS Optimists, who decided that the pediatric wings in Kaiser's San Diego hospital needed a little sprucing up. They contacted Dan Evers, an artist and craftsman, to head up the project. After a visit to Kaiser's hospital, they started to dream about rooms with individual animal themes, and the basis for " The Children's Rainforest" was formed. This great idea needed to be based on facts, though, so Dan contacted Deirdre Ballou, conservation education specialist at the San Diego Zoo, in order to obtain some information on rainforest denizens. Deirdre thought the program sounded fascinating and suggested bringing the Zoo's art teacher, Joe Nyiri, on board to teach the students about art during visits to the Zoo. I was added into the group as the resident animal handler and guide, and the team was completed with the help of Deborah Roberts, child life specialist, and Dian Doyle, a registered nurse, both with Kaiser Permanente San Diego, and none other than the world-famous Dr. Zoolittle!

The second Saturday of every month, this team comes together with up to 20 pediatric oncology patients and their families for a little family fun time! We go out into the Zoo to meet up with the animals, sometimes scoring a behind-the-scenes visit (giraffes, for instance), sometimes getting a fabulous photo opportunity (koalas, anyone?), but always creating really wonderful art.

Once the kids finish up their projects, their art is photographed digitally and then given to them to take home. They might be done with it, but we certainly aren't! Tune in next time to find out more.

Cindy Spiva-Evans is an educator at the San Diego Zoo.

Posted in Default, General, The Zoo Journal | Link to this post

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Scroll to the end to leave a comment. Pinging is not allowed.