POWELL, Ohio (WCMH) — Some Columbus City Schools students are getting a unique hands-on experience through a partnership with the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.
It takes hundreds of people to make the zoo runs smoothly and these students have been getting a behind-the-scenes look. Many students at Fort Hayes Career Center are focused on skilled trades, like carpentry and electrical maintenance.
Some people may not realize it, but the Columbus Zoo relies on trade workers to keep up with the zoo, which is how this partnership came about.
Animal caretakers and seasonal workers are essential, but the zoo also requires a lot of upkeep.
“It’s basically a small city,” the zoo’s schools educator Eli de Nijs said. “We have one of the largest zoos in North America and so being able to tell students that there’s jobs other than zookeepers is a huge thing.”
The partnership between Columbus City Schools and the zoo allows seven students to get hands-on experiences in skills like HVAC, carpentry, landscaping, plumbing and electrical maintenance.
Fort Hayes Career Center seniors Icarus Rodriguez and Oliver Norman are part of the program, each working with the zoo’s landscaping and horticultural team.
“Every day they assign us someone new to kind of follow around,” Norman said. “So one day we might be in the greenhouse watering, trimming, making sure everything looks healthy and then the next day we might be out here testing soil or, you know, trimming trees.”
In the future, Rodriguez wants to do botany research and Norman wants to work for a metropark. They said this work experience is a great foot in the door.
“Being able to wake up in the morning and go to work and do some of the things that I love to do is a really wonderful experience for me,” Rodriguez said.
The students don’t just watch, de Nijs said; they are actually getting their hands dirty and doing the work. Plus, they get paid for their time at the zoo thanks to funding from Battelle.
“They’ve told me that they’re getting really great hands-on experiences and learning a lot of things that they’re not necessarily learning in the classroom which is great for their future and I think makes a very strong partnership for the program,” de Nijs said.
The seven Columbus City Schools students are working at the Columbus Zoo until March 10, but they have the opportunity to extend the internship through the rest of the semester.
The partnership is a pilot program at this point, but the zoo and the school district said the goal is to keep it going long term.
