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Garden State of Mind continued
Our ZAP! program is designed Diana Vazquez, Sprouting Interest
for children ages 5 to 12, so when community relations
she outgrew it, Alexandra continued program assistant, ZAP! has expanded since its inception
on with our Kids’ Club program leading a ZAP! session at and today is offered in four locations:
for middle school students (now Cicero Public Library.
called the Zoo Explorers Club). She • Chicago Public Library’s West
maintained her love of science, and after with a particular emphasis on Belmont Branch (Belmont Cragin)
graduating high school, she went on meeting the needs of African-
to study chemical and physical biology American and Latino children. • Chicago Public Library’s Rudy
at Harvard University. Today, she is Learners ages 5 to 12 and their families Lozano Branch (Pilsen)
a third-year medical student at the are invited to explore nature and culture
University of California, San Francisco, through games, field trips, crafts, and • Cicero Public Library
where she plans to pursue internal other activities. • Melrose Park Public Library
medicine with an oncology specialty. Community involvement and input
Each academic year focuses on have been program essentials from the
Alexandra cherishes her early a particular theme, and then, each get-go. Each neighborhood has distinct
opportunity to learn about science and month during the year, participants needs, resources, and challenges, so we
the natural world. “At the time, I was explore topics that relate to that theme. tapped the wisdom of local leaders—
just having fun, but now I realize how The theme for the 2017-18 academic community advisory boards comprised
important these early opportunities year was World of Wild and Weird of parents, librarians, teachers, and
were,” she says. Additionally, she loved Fascinating Animals, and participants volunteers who provide insight into
the sense of community ZAP! provided. learned about animal adaptations,
“So many of my family, friends, and survival of the fittest, predators and
classmates participated—it was a like a prey, and nocturnal animals.
rite of passage, a tradition, for so many
of my neighbors.” Each two-hour ZAP! program
features activities designed around
Planting the Seeds various learning styles, including
hands-on science that aligns with the
According to the National Research Next Generation Science Standards
Council, 95 percent of science learning required for Illinois schools. Each day
takes place outside schools in settings includes at least one physically active
like zoos, aquariums, museums, and game, necessary for children who have
nature centers. And our research shows been sitting in school all day. Sessions
that children who come to love animals end with some quiet time—healthy
at a young age are more likely to be snacks are provided and children have
conservation-minded their entire lives. the opportunity to write or draw in
These findings, along with our goal of their journals.
reaching all learners, particularly those
who currently are underserved, led
us to develop a series of science-based,
informal learning programs, not just at
Brookfield Zoo but in the communities
where people live, work, and play.
ZAP! debuted in 1995 at two
Chicago libraries. Its purpose
was—and still is—to bring science
programming into communities that
may not traditionally visit the zoo,
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