An animal meet-and-greet held in elementary schools across Canada to talk about the environment has returned to Newfoundland.
Tuesday and Friday in St. John's and Mount Pearl, several animals went to school. Friday's assembly at Bishop Abraham Elementary School in St. John's was given by Vivian Nolan and Shannon Cass of Earth Rangers, both of whom are trained animal handlers and presenters.
"Newfoundland is my first tour," Nolan said in the school gym after the presentation ended and everything was put away. "I am one of the newer Earth Rangers, so I have only been in our main bases in Toronto. … I started in September."
"Newfoundland is beautiful," Nolan added, saying she grew up in a small town outside Toronto. "It's been a really great first introduction for travelling across Canada."
Cass, however, has been to every province on spring tours across the country, except the Northwest Territories. She has been an Earth Ranger for three years.
"This is my second time being to Newfoundland," Cass said backstage next to the animals in their transport boxes. "Everyone here is so nice and friendly and welcoming. We just love going out to town and walking around and taking in the scenery and seeing the ocean, which is something we don't get to see every day."
She said she is from downtown Toronto and has worked in zoos, aquariums and at public speaking events before becoming an Earth Ranger. She found this job is the best combination of all her other jobs before.
According to its Facebook page, Earth Rangers is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating children "through hundreds of thousands of interactive live animals shows."
Earth Rangers’ mission is to educate children and teach them to protect the environment.
In Bishop Abraham's gymnasium at 10:15 a.m., students sat in rows on the floor, looking at a large screen set up in front of the school stage.
Cass says they have 40 animals total that she's trained during the summer and the winter for three years, but only four animals made an appearance in the Bishop Abraham gym.
Linus the Harris hawk was featured at the beginning and end of the show, perched on Cass's special glove.
Leonard the American kestrel and Kookatoo the laughing kookaburra from Australia were also displayed for the children. Kookatoo even burst into laughter, to the children's delighted gasps.
Cass carried Daisy the skunk around to show all the kids, while Cass fed her and held her little leash. At one point, to demonstrate Daisy’s strong sense of smell, Cass hid some food in a plastic bucket that Daisy knocked over almost instantly, to the cheers of students.
During the assembly, two teachers and two students played a game called, "So you think you are smarter than your students, eh?"
The children won.
The Earth Rangers’ presentation explained there are 175,000 Earth Rangers who have protected 25 animal species in Canada. There are 3,100 Earth Ranger members in Newfoundland, and Cass says that the program is only getting bigger.
"It was a fantastic presentation," Laura Butland, the principal of Bishop Abraham, said. "The children were certainly engaged. I could see some of the children almost vibrate with excitement. You could tell they just wanted to leap up and touch the animals."
Kids across Canada seem to love it too.
"What motivates me?" Cass asked. "The kids do every day, talking to them before and after the show, hearing what they have done as Earth Rangers or just every day when they come up and tell us they have pets at home or that they helped save a baby bird."
@MelissaEWong_
