Can you help the Education Committee?

The mission of the Animal Protection Society of Durham is to educate the public about the humane care, treatment and well-being of all animals, to help stop pet overpopulation through the promotion of spay/neuter programs, and to find suitable adoptive homes for the animals in our care.

Educating the public is of utmost importance in our quest to increase adoptions, end animal overpopulation, and decrease the number of animals flowing into our shelter. There are several jobs we have that work toward this goal.

Classroom Presentations

Classroom Presenters are  committed and dynamic volunteers who are willing to spend as little as one hour a month to go out into community schools and outreach centers to spread the message of social awareness and responsibility for our animals. This is an exciting opportunity to directly interact and inform the children and adults all over Durham while being a voice for the voiceless.

*Most presentations are during the school day or immediately after school so Classroom Presenters will need to be available during those times.

Specific tasks include:

• Help with presentations to school groups, camps, scouts, etc.
• Help kids learn how to approach a dog, what pets need, and the pet overpopulation problem.
• Give shelter tours while talking about the shelter (Training will be provided.)

Kids’ Action Team (KAT)

KAT Team Leaders are fun, outgoing volunteers who are passionate about preparing our next generation to be caring and informed pet guardians. The mission of the Kids’ Action Team is to have fun learning about animals, their environment and the important role they play in the world. KAT Team Leaders will educate our future ambassadors and animal advocates about the humane care, treatment, and well being of all animals, the crisis of pet overpopulation, and the importance of spay/neuter. KAT meets on the third Saturday of every month during the school year.

Specific tasks include:

• Helping to create and prepare lesson plans and activities for monthly meetings.
• Participate in planning and implementation for 2-3 meetings a year.
• Setting up for and helping out during monthly KAT meetings. Set-up starts at 1:00pm and the meeting ends at 3:30pm every third Saturday of the month during the traditional school year.

Education Ambassadors

APS Education Ambassadors are informed, passionate volunteers who have a strong desire to teach people about the mission of the Animal Protection Society of Durham at every opportunity. Ambassadors will be given brochures, displays, cheat-sheets and other useful tools to aid them as they man education tables at local festivals, churches, stores, and anywhere else we can reach people.

Specific tasks include:

• Attending local events where we can set up tables.
• Passing out written information and talking to people who come to the table
• Reaching out to people to bring them to the event table. There are lots of creative ideas we have for doing this!

Adoption Board

Adoption Board Designers are creative and artistic volunteers who love shelter pets and enjoy learning more about the individual pets we have here. Adoption boards are a vital tool for Education Ambassadors to help them show the types of pets we have at the shelter and they are a great tool in helping pets get adopted!

Specific tasks include:

• Checking www.apsofdurham.org often to see any new pets that have been added.
• Creating information cards with pictures for adoptable pets listed on the APS website.
• Regularly making sure that adoption boards are kept up-to-date by adding new pets and removing pets that are no longer available for adoption.

For more information,contact Simon Woodrup at volunteer@apsofdurham.org or (919) 560-0640 x.221