On Feb. 22, Ronceverte Elementary School had the unique opportunity to interact with animals from around the world through a visit by Barn Hill Preserve and their live animal ambassadors!

With a 45-minute oral presentation, it provided a unique experience for students to get up close and personal with animals they may have never seen before. The blue-tongue skink, red kangaroo joey, bearded dragon and a sulcata tortoise to name a few.

Barn Hill Preserve is a small, family run zoo and rescue center/reserve in Delaware and Louisiana that loves to educate students about all the different animals in the world. Their mobile educators travel around the United States offering 100 percent free animal education programs to schools.

“In the past year we have been to over 500 schools and educated over 450,000 students,” stated Kathleen Ligon, event coordinator.

The program is free to the students, faculty and staff. However, in order to continue to sponsor the program, funds are raised by the preserve by providing the opportunity to take a $10 picture at the end of the presentation with a live animal ambassador. This is completely optional. Parents and students were provided the information concerning the pictures well in advance.

Throughout the presentation, students participated by asking questions, getting involved in demonstrations, and responding to the speaker. “This program was both educational and entertaining,” stated Mrs. A. Stewart, RES principal.

If you would like more information on Barn Hill Preserve, you may visit their site at www.barnhillpreserve.com.