In Fairhope, Somerset County, elephants were the topic of conversation during a Remake Learning Days visit to the Pittsburgh Zoo’s International Conservation Center.

The tour at the ICC was a first for the spring learning festival, created by Pennsylvania intermediate units to offer students of all ages the chance to experience a variety of career and job opportunities.

While it’s still too early to tell if the ICC will be among the offerings next spring, Remake Learning Days is expanding its programming after the Pennsylvania Department of Education announced a new investment in the annual event.

Remake Learning Days allows “learners of all ages have access to free and fun educational activities right in their backyard — helping them to learn more about the world around them and preparing them for future academic and career success,” Secretary of Education Dr. Khalid N. Mumin said in a statement about the funding increase.

The Pittsburgh Zoo’s bull elephant gets ready to receive a treat from a keeper at the zoos ICC center in Fairhope, Somerset County, during a Remake Learning Days outing in May. Five elephants, a family unit, live at the nearly 1,000-acre ICC facility. Mirror photo by Holly Claycomb

Opportunities abound

While at the ICC, tour participants learned how the wild elephant population is on the decline and how the Pittsburgh Zoo and other facilities are working to save the gentle giants.

The group oohed and aahed over elephant calf Tsuni and laughed when told all the keepers have their favorite shovels and rakes because each elephant creates more than 100,000 pounds of poop a year.

Kamryn Ramos, 10, of Portage, saw a flier about the Remake Learning Days and signed up for the opportunity to see the facility, which isn’t far from her home. She and her mom, Richene Ramos, said they enjoyed the trip and while Kamryn might be a few years away from deciding on a career path, the event shed light on various jobs available for those who like to work with animals.

Because it’s hard to explain to students about the vast number of jobs and careers available, Remake Learning Days provides a way to bring students and work options together via host sites.

“At this time there is a lot of focus on STEAM and workforce development,” said Yu-Ling Cheng, co-producer of the outreach. “The Remake Learning Days festival helps elevate the different learning themes — arts, maker, outdoor learning, science, tech and youth voice — along with professional development opportunities.”

Many of the events offer more than one learning theme.

That was true at the ICC, where participants not only learned what degree to pursue to be an elephant keeper, they also learned the myriad jobs available in related fields — from accounting and legal positions, to maintenance and building.

“We think zoo … we think keeper, but that keeper needs a huge support of people to be successful,” said head elephant keeper Tom Bakke.

Recent college graduate Arianna Rosario of North Carolina agreed.

Rosario received her degrees from Carnegie Mellon the day before the spring event and brought her family along on the tour.

Already employed with the Pittsburgh Zoo on the Water’s Edge program, Rosario said her double major in policy and management and decision science, or basically stats and policy, gives her opportunities in research, data collection and more.

Saint Francis student Ben Gray of Cresson is studying aquarium and zoo science and was fortunate to be selected as an intern with the Pittsburgh Zoo over the summer. The tour offered him a chance to see another side of zoo life, he said.

May 2024 events

With the $762,062 in new funding, Remake Learning Days will add a seventh statewide festival region in North Central Pennsylvania in 2024. In addition, the funding will allow the festival to increase the number of hands-on learning event opportunities; increase participant access to diverse career exploration activities; create Youth, Parent and Teacher Ambassador programs in all seven regions; and expand resources in agriculture, parks and recreation, businesses, arts and libraries, according to a news release.

“Students of all ages will be able to explore potential career options and gain valuable skills through individual and group learning,” said Tyler Samstag, director of Remake Learning.

For example, this past May, while students were watching the family of five African elephants at the ICC, other sites across the state were offering a variety of activities such as at Oakleigh Farm, a robotic dairy farm; Rockwood Manufacturing, where robotics are integrated into the manufacturing process; and the South Fork Public Library, where students could make pointillism masterpieces, images composed of tiny dots of pure color that the eye blends together.

Activities were also held at parks and schools, including Hollidaysburg Area, where students took part in activities such as drumming, paper crafts, science projects and more.

Peoples Natural Gas Field hosted events where students and their families could watch the Altoona Curve baseball game and take part in activities set up at tables along the concourse.

There really is something to interest just about everyone, organizers said.

Remake Learning Days in Pennsylvania will occur from May 2 to 22, 2024, and parents and students are urged to keep on the lookout for fliers announcing the events in the coming months.

Most Remake Learning Days are free and open to students of all ages. More about Remake Learning Days, organized by Intermediate Unit 8 in this region, can be found at remakelearningdays.org/pa-south-central/.

Planned programs will be announced as more information becomes available.