April 16, 2007 – Cheyenne Mountain Zoo will move off of the mountain on Friday, April 20 when the Zoo’s new ZOOMobile and outreach program is unveiled at District 2’s Bricker Elementary School. Bricker’s 5th grade classes will welcome the ZOOMobile at 10:00 a.m. as officials from the Zoo, Central Bancorp and Bricker Elementary show off the new ZOOM (Zoo on the Move) van. The Zoo’s Education Department staff will be on hand to show the students an assortment of animals including snakes, a tortoise, hissing cockroaches, a scorpion and a Harris hawk. Following the unveiling, the Education staff will conduct a series of presentations to Bricker’s students.

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is all about animals and children. In fact, the Zoo crafted its vision on the premise that every child, no matter the age, will have an experience for a lifetime with every visit. And now with the Zoo on the Move program, a Zoo “visit” can include an animal experience at a school or community event!

Thanks to a sponsorship from Central Bancorp, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is launching an education outreach program – ZOOM or Zoo on the Move – that will permit the Zoo to connect people with animals outside the Zoo while educating and inspiring participants to make a difference for the natural world.

Through the generosity of Central Bancorp, the Zoo now has the financial ability to get the outreach program “off the mountain.” Their gift is structured to keep the program fully funded for the first three years. Central Bancorp is the holding company for a range of financial services including wealth management, mortgage, title insurance and trust services, all under the CB&T moniker.

Central Bancorp President and CEO Ron Johnson explains, “As we discussed the Zoo’s potential, it became apparent that the Zoo needed a branch, if you will, to help serve the community better. It needed a way to solve its geographical restrictions. Like in the banking business, if we see an underserved area, we can create a branch to give that area service. Well, the Zoo can’t build a branch, but it can do the next best thing, and that’s to take a piece of the Zoo out into the community. Expand the reach of the Zoo to help broaden its scope. So once we had that goal in mind, we started to think of how we could leverage dollars to benefit the Zoo.”

Steve Schneider, Central Bancorp’s senior vice president of sales and marketing, picks up the story. “We wanted to partner with a strong community-focused organization whose impact reached deep into our city,” he said. “The ability to help take the Zoo “off the mountain” was very appealing to all of us involved and we are excited to help bring a Zoo experience to some who might otherwise not have such an opportunity.”

The idea of a Zoo outreach animal program isn’t a new one. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Auxiliary created the ZOOM program in 1984. At that time, Zoo Docents would drive a handful of animals from the Zoo’s collection to schools and local organizations in their private cars. Over time it was becoming more difficult to take collection animals off Zoo grounds. A strict quarantine program was enforced that stipulated that an animal must be quarantined for 30 days before entering (or returning) to the Zoo population. ZOOM was then suspended until a time when an independent collection of animals and a dedicated vehicle could be supplied to the program.

Rejuvenating ZOOM has been incubating since that time. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Education Curator Nicole Mantz has run a small outreach program without live animals for a few years. Funding was not available to have a mobile Zoo or to hire the interpreters/educators needed to make such a program come alive. Central Bancorp’s three-year commitment to the program includes acquisition of a Dodge Sprinter van (wrapped in a distinctive animal design!) and support for staffing, animal acquisition and program essentials. In addition, Central Bancorp will underwrite up to 100 van outings annually, enabling a wide range of schools and community groups to experience the program over the next three years.

Program topics are tailored to specific ages and audiences and will always include interaction with live animals such as a Harris hawk, opossum, snakes and/or a porcupine. Topics include North America – from Peak to Prairie, Bats, Africa, Invertebrates and Australia. For more information or to schedule a program, contact Nicole Mantz at 633-9925 ext. 116.

Founded in 1926, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is one of a small handful accredited zoos in the nation that operate without local tax support. As a self-supporting facility, it depends on admissions, membership dues, donations, and grants for funding.

###

Directions to Bricker Elementary, Harrison School District #2
4880 Dover Drive
579-2150

§ Take South Academy Blvd. to Astrozon.
§ Turn East on Astrozon and proceed to Gatewood.
§ Turn Left and proceed to Dover Drive.
§ Turn Right and proceed to Bricker Elementary, immediately on your left.
Visitor parking is on the west side of the school in the staff lot, and on Dover Drive adjacent to the school.