Portland observer., May 27, 2015, Image 13

May 27, 2015
Page 13
Arts &
ENTERTAINMENT
Kids Go Camping to Learn Conservation
Oregon Zoo
program opens
nature to urban kids
As a small child, Troy Frison
always liked the zoo, so when
his mentor at the Boys & Girls
Club recommended him for the
Oregon Zoo’s Urban Nature
Overnights, he was excited.
“UNO opened my mind to a
lot more things,” Frison said. “I
was stuck on sports growing up.
This program opened my mind
about conservation and nature.”
This summer, for the 15th
year in a row, young campers
will be pitching tents at local
parks much like Frison did in
third grade.
Since its launching, UNO has
provided camping trips for 4,561
urban youths, and school-year
programming for 1,054 urban
youths. The program, designed
to actively engage historically
under-represented Portland area
youth in outdoor recreation and
conservation, is a partnership
with the Bureau of Land Man-
agement, the U.S. Forest Service
photo by C arli D avidson , courtesy of the O regon Z oo
A group of campers hits the trail at Oxbow Regional Park with conservation educator Troy Frison and
Urban Nature Overnights coordinator Jody Van Riper. The Oregon Zoo’s award-winning UNO program
is celebrating its 15th anniversary this summer.
years. “And it’s part of the zoo’s
goal to reach out to community
members with our conservation
messages. It’s fun to get kids
outside and away from electron-
ics to open their eyes to the nat-
ural world.”
Van Riper said one of the
many ways UNO is successful is
that young participants frequent-
ly return as teens to mentor new
students in the program.
Frison is one of the return-
ing teens. At 15, he applied and
was accepted to the Zoo Animal
Presenters, or ZAP, program a
three-year paid internship for
low-income, diverse teenagers.
ZAP aims to provide job skills,
positive youth development, and
an introduction to conservation
education.
Now 19 and after completing
his three years in the ZAP pro-
gram, he was hired on as a UNO
staff member for the year.
UNO participants are identi-
fied by community partner orga-
nizations. To find out more, visit
oregonzoo.org.
and other community partners.
and culturally diverse kids,” said
“This is specifically a pro- Jody Van Riper, who has been
gram for low-income, ethnically running UNO for 14 of its 15
Washington Park Shuttle Begins
Washington Park has a new,
free park-wide shuttle for summer
allowing visitors to park once or
to take TriMet or Max and then
explore the entire park by hopping
on and off at any of the nine stops.
The Washington Park Free
Shuttle runs every 15 minutes, ev-
ery day, seven days a week, from
9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“The daily free shuttle is an
amazing addition to the park, and
allows visitors to explore this
beautiful place without having to
worry about driving or re-parking
to get from one venue to another,”
says Ruth Shelly, executive direc-
tor of Portland Children’s Muse-
um and Chair of the Washington
Park Transportation Management.
“This service fulfills a promise
we made to the public to provide
a free park-wide shuttle and is a
huge step in improving public ac-
cess to the park, reducing conges-
tion, and lessening environmental
impact.”
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