musing

I've been thinking about something that happened this week. On Tuesday morning, KJ and I took the ZooMobile to the Methodist Children's Home for animal presentations for two high school science classes. Before the students came in, the science teacher told me that these were high school kids, they could be obnoxious, they came from rough backgrounds, etc. She said that if anyone got too awful, she would make them leave.

My thoughts ran along the lines of, "Oh joy...this ought to be fun."

The kids however, were great! Both presentations went well. They were respectful and asked good questions. Later, I was wondering why they were so nice when their teacher obviously expected otherwise.

Maybe it was the change in routine.
Maybe they found the animals interesting.
Maybe it was my fantastic teaching skill. (not)

I honestly think it may have been because I had KJ with me. At the beginning, I introduced myself as a docent and introduced KJ as my son and docent assistant. I explained that he was a homeschooled sophomore and came along to help me often. KJ held the cockatiel so I would not smell like bird when I held the snake and also did the hand sanitizer after the students touched the animals. At the end of the presentations when we discussed zoo careers, I mentioned that KJ was also interested in an animal-care career. I explained that I would also be looking for a zoo job after I finished educating KJ. I think that since these kids had such horrible home environments (they wouldn't be at the Home, otherwise); that maybe they were just appreciative that I obviously take care of my son.