Students at Briarcliff Elementary School shrieked with excitement as veterinary technician and animal educator Erik Callender shared his reptiles, amphibians, and arthropods during a mobile show called “Erik’s Reptile Edventures.” The students were introduced to lizards, frogs, turtles, snakes, and even an alligator named Walley!
   
“I want to spread awareness about our environment and some of the world’s most awesome creatures,” Erik told the students during his opening remarks.
    
Erik’s Reptile Edventures is an interactive presentation that allows students the opportunity to see, touch, and learn about the lives of his creatures from North America, South America, Asia, Madagascar, Africa, and Australia. Not only did the students learn about the habitats of Jaden the panther chameleon, Twinkie the albino Burmese python, Annie the anaconda, and Hip and Hop the Australian tree frogs, they studied a world map of all the locations from where these animal guests came.
    
The students were able to feel the differences in the skin of toads and frog, see the skin shed on an anaconda, witness how a large snake slithers in the grass, and watch as Erik’s turtle ate its second meal after having hibernated all winter. At the end of the show, Erik even invited ten students to hold 85-pound Twinkie!