Lindsay Wildlife Museum, a museum for children to learn about the environment and animals around them, thrives because of high school volunteers.

Many students remember the museum as a place of great amusement and a creator of awe, a place where several elementary schools send their classes to learn and interact with the many animals living there.

It is not only a museum but a rehabilitation center, which accepts and nurtures injured or orphaned wild animals. Animals that are non-releasable, or wouldn’t survive on their own, stay at the museum and interact with the visitors.

Katie Keller, a sophomore at Monte Vista, has been volunteering at the museum for four years, devoting her time towards educating the community about the wildlife, and how to make an impact.

“I started in 6th grade,” Keller said. “It helps with your leadership skills, and it improves how you interact with the environment. It’s a good way to make a difference”.

Just as Katie did, each new volunteer starts as an Interpretive Guide, meaning they take care of and interact with pet education animals such as rabbits, hamsters, and guinea pigs. As a volunteer moves through the program, they begin to interact with more wild animals, such as the snakes, tarantulas, and insects.

Sarah Parnell, the Interpretive Programs Manager at the museum, believes that the youth programs have made a huge impact.

“Teens are able to make a connection to our visitors, in particular children, that adults sometimes cannot,” Parnell said. “Their youthful enthusiasm and passion for wildlife and conservation inspires visitors, their peers and the adult staff and volunteers that work with them.”

Along with taking care of these animals, Interpretive Guides teach and answer questions about the them.

“A big part of the program is about improving your public speaking,” Keller said. “You can actually teach people about the wildlife that you are really passionate about, and you can help make a difference in your community by educating the youth.”

Currently, Keller has moved into the hospital program, where she tends to creatures, such as baby raccoons and birds, that don’t impose an immediate danger. A job that she thoroughly enjoys is working in the Bird Room, a center where baby birds of all kinds are kept. Volunteers feed the birds and clean up the area, providing the best care they can for the birds.By volunteering in this program, she has acquired skills that can be helpful later in life.

“ I want to be a veterinarian, so I started in the IG (interpretive guide) program to learn about the animals and get a nice foundation,” Keller said. “Since going into the wildlife hospital, I’ve definitely gained some great skills for the future.”

When older, Keller, and any senior volunteer, can join the Raptor Team, where they present and interact with the larger birds, such as owls, hawks, and eagles.

Volunteering in the Wildlife Hospital also allows high schoolers to watch surgeries performed on the rescued animals. This is a time where volunteers can ask questions, and

become more knowledgeable on the animals they care for every week.

“Their experiences here also lead them to continue educating about and acting on our mission of connecting people with wildlife, even after they have left Lindsay Wildlife,” Parnell said.

Because of her experience at the museum, Keller has grown to love the environment and animals even more so than when she first began.

“Lindsay Wildlife Museum is really about how you can make an impact,” Keller said. “Preserve and protect as much as you can in your environment, because the wildlife is important.”

The Wildlife Museum continues to educate children about the world and all living in it, and also provides a place for passionate volunteers to do something they love.

“We have become a big family,” Keller said.