There were plenty of ‘oohs’ and ‘aaahs’ at the Santa Fe Teaching Zoo recently as a group of third-graders from Lake Forest Elementary School petted a skink (a type of lizard), watched capuchin monkeys at play and heard an African parrot say ‘hello.” The organizers of an after-school literacy project are betting that fascination with animals will get the children excited about reading.

As part of the Rotary Reading Safari, twenty students will visit the Zoo every Wednesday afternoon for six weeks. During those visits they’ll read books about animals, touch animals and visit a wide variety of animal exhibits. Zoo director Jack Brown says he hopes that interaction will encourage the students to seek out more books.

“I thought maybe if we can get kids who are right at the tipping point of not becoming good readers and bring them to the zoo, maybe we can get them more excited about reading,” said Brown. “Maybe we can make a big difference in their lives just by tipping that balance, just because they came to the zoo.”

The Reading Safari was made possible by a grant from the Rotary Club of Gainesville, which is funding the transportation and giving three animal-related books to each of the children involved in the program. Members from the Rotary Club are also volunteering with the program by reading with the children, helping them with craft projects and serving as chaperones during the visits to the zoo. Grace Lambert, the Rotarian who coordinates the project, says the Reading Safari was a natural fit for the club.

“One of our primary club objectives is to promote literacy, and this project certainly does that,” said Lambert. “Our club motto is ‘service above self,’ and the Rotarians who are volunteering with the Reading Safari exemplify that.”

Lake Forest principal Frank Burns says he’s already gotten a positive response from the students involved in the Reading Safari, many of whom have never before had the chance to visit a zoo.

“The children are telling me that they want to go to the library and find out about the animals they’ve been seeing,” he said. “They’re already very excited about it.”

While reading is the focus of the project, the children are also learning some important scientific concepts, such as how animals adapt to their environment. Brown says such lessons are much easier to get across when students are enjoying themselves. The students apparently agree.

“It’s fun,” said third-grader Keomys Farkham. “I like seeing the animals. They’re fun to watch.”

“I like that we got to learn about animals,” echoed classmate Cayleigh McDonald. “Animal books are fun to read.”