Outback Ray brings the fun to Nashville wild animal style
What do Bindee the chinchilla, Stormtrooper the African ball python, Dobby the Velveteen rabbit, Baby Yoda the armadillo and Spongebob the Burmese python have in common?
All were invited visitors to Nashville Elementary on Friday, March 14 to help celebrate the kickoff of Nashville and Lakeville elementary schools’ Right to Read Week.
All those animals and more were brought in courtesy of Outback Ray, a renowned animal trainer who travels around the Midwest to bring his family of animals to young students.
Simply hearing the cheers, laughter and joy among the students was a telling tale as to how much fun the students were having during the one-hour event.
Outback Ray brought his whimsical, zany and educational troop of animals to Nashville, where the student body was joined by the students from Lakeville, who were bused over for the event, bringing all of Principal Brian Zimmerly’s students together for one event.
“We were excited to have both of our schools from kindergarten through grade five here to enjoy Outback Ray,” Zimmerly said. “We don’t often get to do a lot of these types of programs together.”
The show kicks off Right to Read Week, which is “Wild About Books.”
The featured show that saw Ray bring in animals from all over the world fits in perfectly with the wild nature theme for Right to Read Week.
Zimmerly said the teaching staff has all types of fun and educational events planned for the week including dressup days like Green Day for St. Patrick’s Day, Read a T-shirt Day focused on animals, Camo Day and Crazy Hat Day.
Of course, there will be plenty of reading in the Jungle Room, a reading room decorated specifically for this event.
“I think the kids really get excited about this,” Zimmerly said. “I think any time they get to do something out of the ordinary it’s fun. The teachers have been decorating, and it’s a great time to promote reading.”
He said the Lakeville staff and students have committed to reading more than 1,000 books this year, a goal Zimmerly said they are well on their way to achieving.
As for Outback Ray, he said he does close to 550 shows annually and has more than four dozen animals he can choose to bring to each show.
“When I was a little kid, I remember when the animal guy came to school, and some of my most vivid memories of elementary school was the animal guy,” Outback Ray said. “I just love spreading the joy that these animals can bring into kids’ lives.”
Outback Ray said many kids will never get the opportunity to experience seeing, petting and holding animals from all over the world, so this is a rare experience, and he made sure to invite each and every student to the front to experience touching or holding one of the dozen animals.
Perhaps the biggest cheer from the students came when he introduced Spongebob the Burmese python. While Spongebob sent some teachers scurrying for the bleachers and saw some of the students recoil at the python’s size, most of the kids were eager to take their turn petting the giant python.
Outback Ray said he will often find students who are scared of snakes gain a better understanding of them once they get to pet or hold one.
The animal handler has been working with animals for more than three decades part-time and for the past 22 years full-time, and he has built an enormous animal structure that houses each animal, having built rooms specifically suiting each one’s needs.
From smaller creatures like chinchillas and geckos to bigger ones like an armadillo, a giant red-footed tortoise and a hairless guinea pig, Outback Ray’s variety brought plenty of joy to the student body.
Add in his affinity for connecting with the kids through today’s youth culture icons, and it creates a perfect fit, so much that Zimmerly said they have had Outback Ray to the school several times.
All the animals were captive-born and are well-trained and handled daily to ensure they are comfortable in any setting, no matter how raucous it might get, which is exactly the case with the kids who enjoyed a terrific kickoff to Right to Read Week.
Learn more about Outback Ray at www.outbackray.com.