The Following is authored by Brandon Fowler of Roaming Reptiles based in Bakersfield California. He is a regular contributor to the Reptile Apartment Group.

Reptile Education

We had a man here in town many years ago named Al Robbins. Al did reptile educational shows here in Bakersfield. Al had a huge following, doing shows for schools, libraries, and countless other events. I never had a chance to meet Al before he passed away. After a lot of my shows, I have parents and grandparents come up to tell me about Al coming to their school, showing them reptiles, and how much they enjoyed learning from it. I only hope people will say the same thing about me, when my time on earth is over.

I believe as educators for this hobby, we should take pride in what we do, always thinking about what kids will say about us, when they are parents or grandparents.

Today, we have many educators doing similar shows. We should all be on the same page; encouraging one another to do our best at every show. I’ve said it before, and I truly believe it. One of the children, in one of your shows, may be the next voice for this hobby. You have the opportunity to spark a kids passion and imagination just by taking out a lizard and talking about it.

You have that power. Don’t shy away from what you can do. Before you start a show stop and ask yourself who can I inspire today.

If we don’t work together as a hobby, our kids lose the hands on education they have the opportunity to get now. All they’ll have is a text book. Don’t get me wrong, I love reading, as do my kids. Nothing takes the place of hands on experience. I think I speak for everyone when I say we refuse to stand by and have our hobby taken away one,two and three animals at a time.

Now is the time for educators to take a stand and lead this fight. We can work together and win this. Ask a teacher if you can bring in a couple of reptiles to show the class. Great things will happen.

I hear people say they’d love to do educational shows but they are not good at talking in front of a bunch of people. Believe me when I tell you, I was the same way. Ask anyone who knows me and they’ll tell you. Before I did my first show I almost chickened out. I was terrified. But something happened during that show. As nervous as I was something clicked inside my head. Seeing the eyes and faces of the kids changed me. I found my passion! Now I can’t wait for the next show. When you have that passion you want to share with everyone. I’ve done shows for a small group of 25 and a large group of well over 1,000. One thing never changes, my passion. I’m not doing this to compete with other educators. This isn’t a contest. I want more people doing this. Everyone who does these shows should be talking with one another we should be making each other better. Like I tell everyone who does these shows or wants to start, if you need help I’m always here. Take that leap of faith. You won’t regret it.

And always remember, what will these kids say about you in the years to come? One of these kids may take your place when you are gone. Live to inspire our youth and great things will happen.

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