The Louisville Zoo

My visit to the Louisville Zoo was a bittersweet one - I was so excited to see this zoo, but knew it would be my final one on the road trip. The journey had been long, but completely worth it all the same.
The Louisville Zoo opened in the 1960s and its education programming began around 1975. This was when a few dedicated zoo volunteers began to do education programs such as outreach. Since then the department has grown and expanded, now with around 23 employees in the summer, 10 in winter, and still a devoted base of docents. Even with their multiple areas devoted to education, including a large central education building, the education department viewed the zoo as their true classroom. The Louisville Zoo was very expansive, even sporting a tram that would transport patrons around the park, and I could see exactly how it functioned as a living educational experience.
The education department offered many different programs for children, families, and adults, including early childhood programming and adult lecture series. However, its work with schools seemed to be especially strong. The zoo worked directly with the state department of education in order to understand the big picture in what children were learning and what was needed in teacher training. They also worked directly with religious schools in the area. Their School at the Zoo program, aimed at seventh grade students, ran five days a week and aligned with core components of state education. Overall they worked to serve over 100,000 students in Louisville school systems.
They also worked hard to serve their overall surrounding community. Louisville Zoo is the only zoo in the entire state of Kentucky and is a resource for a very large area. The zoo was excited to offer a safe and secure environment for families, especially during events such as their Halloween celebration.
The Louisville Zoo's education department also used a very analytical approach towards their programming. Programming incorporated evaluation forms which participants would fill out, and these were used in analysis of existing programs. Evaluation forms and audience analysis were also used when developing new programs. Any new programming went through many rigorous steps in order to be implemented, such as technical logistics, audience overview, and budgeting. Their budgeting was strict and well-thought out, and was incorporated into all analysis and program overviews. While having big ideas regarding zoo education was important, it was interesting to see this flip side and how zoos could handle educating while still adhering to strict guidelines and 'left brain' analytics.