John Ball Zoo’s educational program that teaches children about the conservation of wildlife and wild places continues to expand in local schools. 

The Zoo began offering its Habitat Hero program in schools in 2023, and the program is now in 20 classrooms, serving more than 500 students in two school districts – Grand Rapids Public Schools and Godfrey-Lee Public Schools. The end of this school year marks the end of the first year-long school program. 

“At John Ball Zoo, we work to inspire the next generation of wildlife enthusiasts, and the Habitat Hero program for schools offers children a direct way to engage with and support wildlife right in their own environments,” said Rhiannon Mulligan, director of conservation and education for the Zoo. “It’s amazing to see students grow more excited about the outdoors and spotting wildlife in their neighborhoods and at school as the year progresses. This program offers skills and sparks interests that students will carry with them through life.” 

Habitat Hero is a program the Zoo has offered for years to the public, encouraging local habitat restoration and protection of native habitats by providing education and thousands of free native plants. In the school program, students learn about native plant habitats in their own neighborhoods and schoolyards, and the importance of these habitats for birds and pollinating species. 

Throughout the nine-month program, students evaluate their schoolyards for habitats that support pollinators and bird species and come up with a plan to support these species. They implemented their plans throughout May. 

"Activities such as the field report and the garden proposal allowed students to be more engaged and involved in the topics they were learning,” said Darby Sepulveda, Brookside Elementary School teacher. “I loved how many different types of learning were provided, from trips to the Zoo, classroom visits and activities for my students to do in between visits.” 

Habitat Hero is made possible through grant funding from the Wege Foundation and Amway. 

The Zoo is currently evaluating possible expansions of the program, including one-time classes that could be offered on birding, butterflies and more. More classrooms will be added in the next year of the program, which will begin in the fall with the new school year as demand for the program is high. 

Children who take part in the program provide feedback to the Zoo about it.  

“I enjoyed learning about all the different songbirds, and especially the birdsong hero game! I liked learning the spectrograms and all the different bird stuff,” one student said.  

“While doing Habitat Hero, we learned so many things and had so much fun! It guided a lot of us toward taking care of the environment and knowing how to take care of a garden,” another said. 

Educators who are interested in having the Habitat Hero program at their school are encouraged to reach out to education@jbzoo.org for more information. The program has limited capacity.  

Habitat Hero is one way the Zoo connects with and inspires the community to engage in wildlife conservation through fun, meaningful experiences. John Ball Zoo offers a variety of additional resources for educators on its website, in addition to free field trips for Kent County children thanks to the John Ball Zoo and Grand Rapids Public Museum Millage.