Volunteering and Community Service at the Zoo..........KRISTA

Let me preface all this with this statement: in order to graduate from my school, you need a certain amount of hours of community service. One way to do this is to join a certain club we have in our school that deals with community service, but when I tried to apply, the lady in charge told me they were no longer accepting applications (although she promptly accepted another application about half an hour later, and this was partially my fault-- I had waited a long time to apply). I've been looking out for volunteering opportunities since, and a Career Fair was recently held at my school. I spoke with a man who works at the Denver Zoo and he mentioned that they were accepting teen volunteers for the summer.

I can do this through summers until I'm fifteen (so, essentially next year) when I can work sometimes during the school year as well. This sounds great for me, as I want to get out of the house during the summer (because Sam will be getting a job and my parents both work full-time) and I love being in Denver and at the zoo. The only issue with volunteering is that there's a $50 tuition fee for work that I'm going to be doing for free (I know that there's a uniform involved for the job, and I'm fairly certain that the $50 will pay for that, at least).

I was wondering if it's normal to have to pay a tuition fee to do teen volunteering at any place. If not, can anyone here think of a good place for a 14-year-old to do community service during the summer (and possibly occasionally during the school year)? I'm really set on the zoo, but I'll only do it if it's the absolute best option. Thanks.

-USM's Zookeeper, Krista

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