Talk for P.J. Olivier School

On the 23rd of April, Dr Shelley Edwards and I delivered a snake talk for primary and high school learners of P.J. Olivier school in Grahamstown. The talk, which was delivered during their morning assembly, to a crowd of approximately 365 learners, was my biggest snake talk to date. the assembly was attended by students from grade 1 all the way to Grade 12 and was challenging and exhilarating at the same time. The large age difference between the younger and older learners made content delivery hard but not impossible. In the end, the combination of cool videos and interesting snakes facts was more than enough to peak the interests of all the students, irrespective of age.
Due to the size of the audience, no snakes were handled at the end of the talk. We however did showcase some snakes in plastic containers for people to see. The talk, which saw me speaking into a microphone, from behind a podium, to hundreds of learners, from atop a stage, was a thoroughly exhilarating experience was awesome to say the least. It seems like just yesterday that I was sitting in the audience, as a student, looking up at the teachers, thinking about how brave they must be to sit on stage and talk to hundreds of people. its safe to say, it is not as scary as it looks, especially when you are talking about something you love. I look forward to my next talk at P. J. Olivier school.
The more young people introduced to snakes in such a way the better. A positive aspect to emphasise about the presence of snakes in one’s urban garden is that they help to keep rat populations under control.
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Well done, Chad. Let’s hope you can do lots more such education in our schools. Such a worthwhile enterprise.
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I really like doing the school talks and I am always willing to engage with schools about the amazing world of herpetology:)
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