Zoo-Mates Joys

At our mentor closing last week, during which we evaluated Zoo-Mates and made suggestions for next year, we also collected a list of funny and joyful moments from the 2008-2009 program. These included:

Hula hooping at the kids' school

Watching the video on the last day

D. dumping way too much baking soda in the vinegar bottle to blow up the balloon

J. dressing up for the Field Day relay race

Eating worms at the Zoo

P. always wanting piggyback rides

Throwing stuffed animals at each other on the overnight

Yoga

Mentees painting Corey’s face at the Celebration

A baby alligator peeing on a mentor

It was a year full of laughs!

We Love Our Mentors!

Climbing the Walls!

Celebration!

Our final Zoo-Mates event for the 2008-2009 school year was a festive and fun-filled celebration at UC. For many of our mentees, this was their first visit to a college campus.

We played cornhole in the gym.

And also helped each other shoot baskets.

We enjoyed some quality time with our friends.

And worked off some energy.

We showed each other our skills.

Some UC student volunteers joined our celebration to paint our faces. Soon, we had butterflies, tigers, and super heroes swarming the gym!

A mentor works on a scorpion "tattoo."

The transformation of a butterfly.

This mentor donated his face to some young artists!

On the way toward becoming a basketball...

Many of us also got to face the challenge of the climbing wall!

She's happy to be back on solid ground!

Interviewing Spider-Man about his climbing adventures.

Right after this photo was taken, he climbed all the way to the top!

Look how far you've come!

The Project Connect staff cheered us on!

Then the time came to gather together, eat some pizza, and enjoy some final moments with our buddies.

We watched the Celebration video and cheered when we saw ourselves and our friends!

He's a bearcat!

And then it was time to say goodbye.

Thanks for a great year!

Celebration Video!