Thank you to our Docents!

 

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is truly fortunate to have an enthusiastic group of supporters within our Auxiliary, or Docent program. We can’t thank them enough for everything they have done and continue to do at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. The Cheyenne Mountain Zoo Auxiliary (CMZA) was formed in 1969 as a non-profit organization to give aid in carrying out the Zoo’s objectives. It is an active and founding member of the Association of Zoo and Aquarium Docents (AZAD). The docent volunteers within the Auxiliary are required to be members of the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and pledge to serve at least 30 hours a year in a variety of support activities.

 The zoo would surely not look the same as it does today, without the support of our docents. Many of the educational opportunities at the zoo are a direct result of the Auxiliary’s efforts in starting school group “safaris” (pre-trip programs) and zoo tours, the original Zoo On The Move (ZOOM) program, special event and on-grounds education stations and presenting puppet shows in classrooms out in the community for grades K-2. The docents also played an active role in several of the Zoo’s early marketing campaigns including the “Name the Baby Elephants” contest in which the names for Lucky and Kimba were chosen. They also played an active role in the Zoo’s first capital campaign, Zoo for All Reasons. As the zoo has grown, so have the ways in which the Auxiliary continues to support the zoo!

In addition to all of the activities listed above, our docents also play integral roles in the renewed ZOOM program, zoo-wide animal enrichment, special animal care efforts such as health or birth observations, and financially and physically support our conservation initiatives. There’s just nothing this group of enthusiastic individuals won’t do! In the last year alone, 106 docents collectively contributed over 15,000 hours of service to the zoo. That’s the equivalent of over seven full-time staff members.

 It’s clear that Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is a better place because of the docents and the enthusiasm and support they provide. So to bring “National Thank You Month” to a close, on behalf of all of the staff at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, We say – “THANK YOU” to the Auxiliary for all you do.