TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) – Educators with the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan traveled to introduce young students in the capital city to some special Kansas animals.
The center’s education team went to Sheldon Head Start, 1155 SW Seabrook Ave., on Tuesday to teach the students about reptiles by showing them a live Western Hognose Snake and an Ornate Box Turtle named Sheldon.
The Ornate Box Turtle is the official state reptile of Kansas, so the educational experience allows the students to see and learn about a reptile recognized in Kansas ahead of Kansas Day, along with some other reptiles.
“I hope whenever they leave here, they are going to go home and tell their parents how awesome of an experience they had with getting to touch cool things that live right outside their back door that they might not ever get the chance to see,” said Andy Land, seasonal educator for the Flint Hills Discovery Center. “Some of them live in, you know, here in town, where there aren’t so many turtles and snakes running around, and hopefully, kind of, show them not to be scared of snakes and everything. That they are our friends, but also to respect them and let them do their snakely duties out in the wild.”
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