Junior Curators Get Hands-On Experience At Raleigh Museum

Kit Cox is finally doing what she is wanted to do since she was little. She can take care of the animals at a museum.

"I love to be around the animals and to have the experience of being around other people who enjoy being around animals," Cox says. "It's just a really fun experience for me."

Cox is one of 32 junior curators at the museum. The curators are seventh and 12th-graders, who come to the museum once a week to help care for reptiles, amphibians and other animals that are used for exhibits and programs.

"We change the newspaper everyday," says junior curator Will Black. "We give them fresh water and on Wednesday, we feed the mice."

Museum staff members say the junior curators provide a valuable service especially at a time when the museum is getting ready to move into its new building.

"They do a lot of cleaning up behind the animals and feeding the animals," says Heather Frink, program coordinator. "They also work at events so they're a great manpower."

For the students, it is a chance to work with animals and learn all about them.

When the museum moves to its new building next month, the junior curators will take care of nearly 3,000 animals.