We Love All Animals - Part One

With winter comes our favorite tradition, visiting Howling Woods Farm.

As you may have guessed, a good portion of our budget goes to animal care. We team members focus on taking in animals from homes that cannot provide proper care. Years before starting The Drawing Zoo I, Brittany, learned about animal husbandry by volunteering at an exotic pet rescue (no longer in business). The rescue taught me about parrots, turtles, snakes, lizards, tarantulas and more!

The founder lives on the property with the rescues. 

But what you may not know is that The Drawing Zoo makes yearly donations to other animal oriented groups. One great non-profit we love to support and visit is Howling Woods Farm. Like many animals at the exotic pet shelter, some people purchase the wolf-dogs for the excitement of having an unusual pet.
(I say with with no intention to judge), but the unusual care requirements of the animal(s) proves over whelming or outweighs the novelty of the pet. And it's just just wolf-dogs that are misunderstood.

My first visit to Howling Woods. 

Much like snakes and spiders, wild wolves have been demonized in American culture from very early on in U.S. history. In fact, wolves were legally exterminated in most of the 50 states. Wolves are only in healthy numbers in Alaska and Minnesota. Howling Woods Farm is an advocate for wolves, and contributes to rebuilding the wolf population in North America.

Howling Woods Farm is full of devoted team members who take in homeless wolf-dogs and wolves and share their knowledge and experience about these animals with the public. We appreciate their dedication, passion and responsibility.

Personally, it is a big deal to support this group because they are tackling a goal, that I cannot. Our areas of expertise do not include wolves or wolf-dogs so it feels great to contribute to their wellbeing.

Sources:
http://www.wolf.org/wolf-info/basic-wolf-info/
http://www.wolfcountry.net/information/WolfEndangered.html

Arts Every Day

Did you know that if you're a Baltimore County Public School, you can get funded to have The Drawing Zoo visit you?
We are a program offered by Arts EveryDay. We are proud be valued by a driving force in Baltimore public education.  

Not that you didn't know, but creativity is an important aspect to education:
"Studies finds that arts education engages students who are often underserved in public schools, including students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds and English language learners; that these students do better in arts-rich schools than in schools that do not have robust arts programs; and that they show the greatest relative improvement in academic achievement when participating in the arts. The more time they study the arts, the more pronounced are these effects. Studies further find that arts integrated instruction offers an alternative avenue for students to access and learn information in English language arts and mathematics and may be more effective than traditional remedial programs, thus offering a resource in helping to close the achievement gap. Teachers who integrate the arts into their curricula find that they are better able to understand and meet the needs of all of their students. Research suggests that policymakers should consider increasing rather than reducing the role of the arts in schools where an achievement gap persists between students from low-SES backgrounds, English language learners, and other student groups."
-Arts EveryDay
http://www.aep-arts.org/2011/11/feature-2/

Some schools who have taken advantage of this opportunity include:

Monarch Academy Baltimore Campus
Hamilton Elementary Middle School
Academy for College and Career Exploration 
Holabird Academy
Bard High School Early College Baltimore

If you teach at at Baltimore County Public School, you can join this happy club. 
Email TheDrawingZoo@gmail.com