Stand Out Truck offers unique advertising opportunity to the Zoo in Forest Park
Springfield, MA — The Zoo in Forest Park & Education Center is shifting the way visitors experience the local zoo. Instead of a simple zoo experience, they’re focusing on programs dedicated to education, conservation and rehabilitation.
“For an organization as old as ours, it is a step,” said Executive Director Sarah Tsitso. “This is a very different zoo from what your parents or grandparents might have experienced.”
One way they’re letting the public know about this shift in philosophy is through the Stand Out Truck. The mobile billboard will drive through the Springfield community displaying information about some of these programs.
“We’re excited to have a new format and a new method of marketing rather than the old standbys,” Tsitso said. “I feel like this is a really nice opportunity to try something fresh and new that people will notice.”
As part of the shift towards education, the zoo has added additional staff over the past four years. The zoo offers a variety of programs for all ages, both at the zoo and off-site. Camps, internships, Zoo on the Go, and guided tours focus on science and in-depth education.
Tsitso hopes these programs will better help participants understand what impact people have every day on animal’s habitats.
“It’s really about teaching people to be good stewards of the environment and to understand their place in the ecosystem,” she said.
One popular program, Kids Go Wild, was developed in collaboration with other organizations as a multi-week lesson that progressively educates students. The curriculum-based program is built around state-standards.
Although virtual programming was introduced because of the pandemic, it allowed the zoo to connect with people across the country. Zoo administration plans to create a virtual video library so that anyone around the world can access the educational content.
The zoo has also changed the experience that visitors will now have with the animals, most of which are unable to be released into their natural habitat. To help with community education, each animal is identified with a marker explaining their personal history and why they’re now part of the zoo.
“We’re able to share their stories in a way that makes people understand why they’re here,” Tsitso said. “They get to know these particular animals and have an affinity for them.”
Currently no other zoos in the area have a similar focus on education. Tsitso estimates that 40,000 – 50,000 people annually participate in their educational programming plus more than 75,000 zoo visitors.
The Stand Out Truck will be driving through northern Connecticut and eastern Massachusetts to spread the message and new zoo philosophy to different people and communities that may not know about the change in zoo philosophy. Tsitso hopes that this will help more people develop a greater appreciation for the world around us and our place in it.
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