About

All children have dreams as they grow up. Some want to be firefighters; others want to be doctors or lawyers, while others envision becoming a movie star or a famous singer. Sometimes those dreams fall by the wayside as they grow up, while other times...they are achieved.

At the tender age of seven, C S Wurzberger went to the zoo for the first time. She was fascinated by all of the animals she was introduced to. But one thing really caught her eye. There was a zookeeper walking around with a big wad of keys on his belt. She watched with envy as she saw him enter exhibit after exhibit to visit and care for the animals. “Wow,” she thought as she studied his every move. “That’s what I want to be when I grow up!"

Her passion for animals only grew as she got older. Then one day at age ten, her English teacher gave her a school assignment that would have a major impact on her life. The task was to go through the encyclopedia and pick one animal to write about. For those of you too young to remember, an encyclopedia was the main tool for research before the internet came along. It was a book filled with information on just about anything you could think of. It wasn’t nearly as comprehensive as a Google search in today’s world, but at the time, it served that purpose.

As she was thumbing through the book, a curious looking bird caught her eye. It was one she’d never seen or even heard of. It was called a dodo bird. She decided to read more about it before deciding if this would be the subject of her paper only to discover that this bird had become extinct in 1681. She felt sad but also angry that she’d never get to see this amazing bird. She was upset that the people living at that time didn’t care about what was happening to that bird! How appalling and unfair to future generations.

Approaching her parents with her newly discovered information, she learned that her parents were very ho-hum about it as well, which made her even more upset.
“How could you not care about this poor, defenseless bird?” she shouted very loudly. “We need to care; this bird will never be seen on the earth again!”

And that was the beginning of C S’s journey to make people aware of the impacts they have on animals and their habitat. She never lost sight of that goal. Her eagerness to make a difference only grew over time, and she kept her childhood dream in mind throughout her life.

When she reached XX years old, she fulfilled her dream of becoming a zookeeper. She was responsible for over 300 animals and 40 employees at an educational farm or zoo and... she had that highly sought-after wad of keys hanging from her belt. She loved her job but felt she could be doing more.

Her mission became to share the plight of the endangered animals and to teach people not only to care but define what they can do about it. She became known as The Green Up Girl and started to spread the word. As she was flying over a large city one time, she looked out the window and wondered, “how can I better reach all of those people down there and get them involved in protecting the animals of the world.”

Then it came to her. “I’ll work with the children!” she thought to herself. “There are over three billion children in the world, and if I can reach several million of them and get them engaged with their family and friends to spread the word about the endangered species, the word would travel fast!” Through her work, she had observed that kids feel grownups don’t care enough about the planet and the animals that inhabit it. She wants to empower them to take action and to teach others. She felt they need to learn and to educate others and show people that everyone can make a difference.

Her next step was to create a new program designed specifically for kids. It’s called Awesome Animal Adventures which is designed to provide exciting experiences for kids who love animals and exploring their world. She describes it this way:

“At Awesome Animal Adventures we’ve begun offering online and in person Activity Kits and Animal Learning Labs. Together the kids and I explore the animals that share our world, examine the issues that affect them, and engage in conservation projects that protect them.”

Now she travels the country with her pet Timneh African Grey Parrot named Abby. Together they visit zoos, aquariums, schools, conservation seminars, and other speaking events to help build awareness. It’s not a small task she’s taken on. But in her eyes, every little bit helps. She excitedly says, “Can you imagine if each person did one thing to save an animal from extinction, what the impact would be on the planet?” By taking her message on the road and reaching kids around the world, she plans to find out. This is how she continues to live her childhood dream.

Contact C S directly at either 802-258-8046 or Explore@PassportToTheAnimalWorld.org

Childhood Dreams Do Come True!The Story of a Young Girl Who Followed Her Passion

Childhood Dreams Do Come True!
The Story of a Young Girl Who Followed Her Passion