Teen Program Handbook

This is the central location for all information, waivers, forms, syllabuses, and details you will need for all of the Teen Programs.

All Teen Program Waivers

– *All waivers MUST be complete 14 days prior to the program’s start date.
– You’re child will NOT be able to participate without completed paperwork.
– Complete the waivers; electronically sign and submit them at the link below.
– Teen Program Waivers

Bullying - Zero Tolerance

Bullying – Zero Tolerance

There are three types of bullying:

Verbal bullying is saying or writing mean things. Verbal bullying includes:

Teasing
Name-calling
Inappropriate sexual comments
Taunting
Threatening to cause harm

Social bullying, sometimes referred to as relational bullying, involves hurting someone’s reputation or relationships. Social bullying includes:

Leaving someone out on purpose
Telling other children not to be friends with someone
Spreading rumors about someone
Embarrassing someone in public

Physical bullying involves hurting a person’s body or possessions. Physical bullying includes:

Hitting/kicking/pinching
Spitting
Tripping/pushing
Taking or breaking someone’s things
Making mean or rude hand gestures

Even if a teen is not directly involved in bullying, they may be contributing to the behavior. Witnessing the behavior may also affect the child, so it is important for them to learn what they should do when they see bullying happen.

Roles teens play when they witness bullying include:

Teens who Assist: These children may not start the bullying or lead in the bullying behavior, but serve as an “assistant” to children who are bullying. These children may encourage the bullying behavior and occasionally join in.
Teens who Reinforce: These children are not directly involved in the bullying behavior but they give the bullying an audience. They will often laugh or provide support for the children who are engaging in bullying. This may encourage the bullying to continue.
Outsiders: These children remain separate from the bullying situation. They neither reinforce the bullying behavior nor defend the child being bullied. Some may watch what is going on but do not provide feedback about the situation to show they are on anyone’s side. Even so, providing an audience may encourage the bullying behavior. These kids often want to help, but don’t know how. Learn how to be “more than a bystander.”
Teens who Defend: These children actively comfort the child being bullied and may come to the child’s defense when bullying occurs. Our personal heroes

The Zoo is a safe place for ALL teens, if you disrupt that peace in any way with toxicity you will be asked to leave the program. Stand up for your peers and speak up. You will NEVER be in trouble for reporting bullying. You will always be considered ANONYMOUS when you report bullying behavior of others

Dress Code - Uniform

At Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, personal appearance, hygiene, and attire are important. The dress standard should remain “Zoo Crisp” or “Zoofficial” at all times, this look is defined as:

Clean, good quality garments, pressed or wrinkle-free.
Zoo Crew shirts tucked in at all times.
Well-maintained, closed toe footwear (flip-flops are not acceptable).
Pull long hair back when working in any animal area.
Must wear name tag and teen program shirt at all times while working.
Khaki, brown or hunter green pants, capris or shorts are required. Shorts must be past your fingertips when you lay your hands at your side, no exceptions.
No blue jeans, sport shorts or leggings allowed. Can not be sweat pant material.
Jewelry for oral piercings must be very small, clear or flesh colored, and in compliance with the Zoo Crisp Casual standard; otherwise, they should be removed while you are at the Zoo in uniform.

Purchasing Extra Shirts:
After the orientation season and everyone has received their first shirt you can purchase as many as you’d like. If we do not have your size in stock we will order it and it usually takes about 10-14 days. You can purchase more t-shirts at any point through out the program. Each shirt is $10, unfortunately at this time we can only collect this payment in cash or check. Please make checks out to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

Buy New Uniform Shirt – $10

Safety and Dismissal Policy

Accidents or Injuries

Report any and all injuries immediately to the staff member in your area and the Teen Program Supervisor. We have an EMT on grounds daily and will contact your parents to notify them of your accident. We also have ‘incident reports’ to be filled out by staff and kept on file. A phone call home will be made for ANY incident report that is filed for a teen in the program.

Fire/Evacuation Specific

Teen crew members are to meet at the rally point (The EdVenture Office) and check in with the Teen Program Supervisor and/or the Lead Teen Mentor and await further instructions. Teen crew members who do not have a staff member with them should locate the closest Zoo employee and listen for direction from them. If the Incident Commander determines the public needs to get to safe places, the Teen Program Supervisor will lead the teens to this location.

The Teen Program Supervisor and any other EdVenture staff will begin calling parents to provide information on evacuation location and when/where to be picked up. Teens MUST be signed out by parents to ensure all teens have been properly evacuated. If teens cannot be picked up within the time frame of evacuation, they will be evacuated by Zoo staff to a safe location and await parent pick up/sign out. The safe off site location is currently designated as Cheyenne Mountain High School (1200 Cresta Rd, Colorado Springs, CO 80906).

Sexual Harassment and Inappropriate Conduct

Our Zoo is firmly committed to maintaining a positive and safe environment. This refers to a workplace that is free of inappropriate conduct, including offensive verbal and written communication of a sexual nature.

Sexual harassment does not mean occasional compliments that are socially acceptable. Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when:

submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s volunteering,
submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for decisions affecting an individual’s volunteering,
such conduct has the purpose or effect of substantially interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.

Any participant who feels sexually harassed should take the complaint directly to the Teen Programs Supervisor or Director of EdVenture Programs, who will inform the Vice President of Mission and Vision Programs and/or the President/CEO immediately. Complaints will receive prompt and immediate attention. If the results of our investigation confirm the offense, appropriate action will be taken against the offender- any Zoo Crew accused of sexual harassment will be immediately suspended or expelled from the program and will be asked to leave Zoo grounds immediately. Parents will be immediately notified and possibly asked to meet with the Teen Programs Supervisor, Teen Mentor, and the Director of Education. No refunds will be given.
If you have questions or concerns about sexual harassment, Zoo policies, or resources on sexual harassment, please contact the Teen Programs Supervisor or a staff member you feel comfortable speaking with. Please know that we are here to help and ensure that your time at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is engaging, inspiring, and safe.

Discipline and Dismissal Policies

Zoo Crew is run on a Warning and Critical Incident System (defined below). Any disciplinary infraction will be dealt with by receiving a warning and an Evaluation (example below) including disciplinary conversations sent home to parents. If you receive a warning, the Teen Programs Supervisor will contact your parents and provide a form to be signed; once signed the form needs to be returned to the Teen Program Supervisor.

Receiving two written warnings will automatically result in expulsion from the program, with no refund of tuition. As a participant you are expected to conduct yourself in a courteous and respectful manner. Warnings will be issued if you are not behaving as expected, or if you use improper judgment. Some examples of inappropriate behaviors that will result in a warning include, but are not limited to the following:

Leaving Zoo grounds without permission during a scheduled shift or disappearing for long periods of time without letting your supervisor know.
Not being where you are supposed to be, or doing what you are supposed to be doing during a scheduled shift.
Use of foul language and gestures, including threats, profanity, ridiculing, gossip, bullying and put-downs.
Refusal to comply with staff requests.
Unprofessional attitude towards other teens, staff, volunteers, or Zoo guests.
Unreasonable temper outbursts.
Failing to contact the Teen Programs Supervisor or Teen Mentor if you are unable to come to the Zoo on your scheduled day, or coming in on an unscheduled day without confirming.
Bringing friends outside of the teen program to accompany you during your scheduled day without prior permission from the Teen Program Supervisor.

However, some behaviors will not be tolerated at all, and are considered Critical Incidents. These behaviors will result in immediate dismissal from the program with no refund of the program fee and the teen will be asked to leave Zoo grounds immediately. Some incidents (not all inclusive) that will result in immediate expulsion are:
– Possession or use of tobacco, alcohol or drugs.
– Endangering in any way the safety of the animals, visitors, staff, other volunteers, or yourself
– ANY violent, sexual, or other inappropriate behavior directed toward anyone, or any animal.
– Possession of any weapons, or firearms.

*If you are dismissed from the program due to behavior issues, you will NOT receive any type of refund on your tuition.

Scheduling

We focus on being as flexible as possible with teen scheduling. We use an online website Sign Up Genius to coordinate all schedules for teens. This makes it possible for families to sit down at home and choose the dates their teen can be at the Zoo. You have the capability to add, edit, and delete shifts from your home using this online system.

Here are a few pointers for scheduling:

Teens are encouraged to work 120 hours over the Summer season.
You will be sent a link to your online sign up where you can see all available shifts.
Sign-ups will lock 24 hours prior to the shift which doesn’t allow for changes without a Teen Program staff approval.

It is very important that you coordinate your schedule with the Teen Program Supervisor if there are any changes in the schedule that you have previously signed up for, those requests need to be made in writing or in person and given to the Teen Program Supervisor. All scheduling will be done through Sign Up Genius (www.signupgenius.com) and it is YOUR responsibility to show up for your selected shifts. If you do not show up for a shift and you have not let the Teen Program Supervisor know it will result in a written NO CALL NO SHOW form. Once you receive two of these forms you will be removed from the schedule for two weeks.

Sign-in and Sign-out Procedures

Each morning the Zoo Crew will have a short meeting on the education patio or in the Nest to get daily announcements, updates and schedules; then Zoo Crew members should report immediately to their station/area. In the afternoon, members will regroup after all duties are complete and after properly signing out they are free to go. All teens should be picked up at the scheduled time indicated unless prior arrangements have been made with the Teen Program Supervisor. It is important that Zoo Crew members are prompt on their arrival and departure.

If You Cannot Make it to Your Assigned Shift

We understand that from time to time there may be unforeseen circumstances, such as illness, accidents or other emergencies and you are not able to make a shift. If this happens, please call 719-424-7822 and notify the Teen Program Supervisor. Please be sure to leave your name and what area you were signed up for.

Hours

The Teen Program staff will record all hours the teens have worked each month. The teens are responsible for recording their day to day hours. At the end of the season we will have certificates available for all teens who wish to display their total hours worked on a signed certificate.

Social Networking and Communications Policy

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo understands that exciting things happen here and sharing that excitement through social media (facebook, instagram, etc.) is almost automatic. We ask that you use discretion and understand that some events and information may not be public knowledge and should stay within the Zoo family. We encourage taking photos and sharing your experiences so long as they do not jeopardize or harm the reputation or business of the Zoo, Zoo staff, affiliates, or disclose nonpublic Zoo matters.

Please respect these guidelines when using social media sites:

Because a social media site is a public space, you must be respectful to the Zoo, our employees, volunteers, board members, customers, guests, partners, affiliates and others.
Whether you identify yourself on a website as being involved with the Zoo or not, you may not discuss or publish material related to Cheyenne Mountain Zoo or the Zoo employees and volunteers, board members, guests, partners, vendors or their affiliates.
Publication of photographs and video taken at the Zoo with your personal camera may be posted at your discretion. These photo(s)/video(s) may not contain content associated with veterinary procedures or other sensitive animal welfare issues. Cheyenne Mountain Zoo reserves the right to ask you to remove any photograph(s) or video(s).
For any animal page that directly or indirectly represents Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, we ask that staff and volunteers refrain from creating pages and sites for Cheyenne Mountain Zoo animals (i.e. Mister’s Facebook page).

Please make it clear to your networks/audience that the views you express are yours alone and they do not necessarily reflect the views of the Zoo. To help reduce the potential for confusion, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo would appreciate seeing the following notice in a prominent place on your site: “The views expressed on this website/weblog are mine alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.”
Postings may generate media coverage. If members of the media contact you about Cheyenne Mountain Zoo related information, requests or information of any kind, contact the Zoo’s Public Relations Manager for response.

**Failure to follow this policy may result in dismissal of the program**

Tuition Pricing

All fees for all sessions includes one t-shirt, name tag and reusable beverage cup, as well as daily supervision, program supplies and materials, keeper talks and tours, special afternoon workshops, orientation, end of season party and more!

Application fee: a $25 non-refundable fee for each applicant/application is required to begin the application process.

SUMMER TEEN PROGRAM FEES*

Zoo Crew price per teen (Middle School, 6th – 8th grades):
$700.75 for our 3-month summer session

Junior Zoo Keeper and Teen Leader price per teen (High School, 9th – 12th grades):
$600.75 for our 3-month summer session

OFF-SEASON TEEN PROGRAM FEES*

All Teens (Zoo Crew, Junior Zoo Keepers &/or Teen Core) price per teen:
$400.75 per session; Fall, Winter or Spring.

– *These program fees do not include EdVenture trip fees.
– Full payment of the program session is due 48 hours prior to the first day of the session.
– Note: 75¢ from each Teen Program Registration goes to Quarters for Conservation, which expands Cheyenne Mountain Zoo’s regional and global conservation efforts.

EdVenture Refunds, Cancellations or Changes

Refund Policy
A refund request must be received no less than TWO WEEKS prior to the start of the program. If approved, the Zoo will refund the amount of the fee minus 25% of the program fee. No refunds will be given after two weeks prior to the start of the program.

*If you are participating in an extended EdVenture Program (Zoo Crew, Junior Zookeeper, etc.) please send an email to the program specific supervisor to discuss refund options and policies.

We do not issue refunds for parties that do not show for their reservation. If you need to cancel or reschedule your event, please refer to the confirmation email received upon registration. For further inquiry, please email [email protected].

If the Zoo is closed due to inclement weather or other unforeseen events, we will issue you a full refund (less the non-refundable deposit) or you may reschedule the event to the next available date and apply all payments already made toward your reservation to the new reservation.

Program Cancellation
The Zoo reserves the right to cancel a program due to lack of enrollment or unforeseen circumstances in which the Zoo is closed. If the Zoo is closed due to inclement weather or other unforeseen events, we will issue you a full refund (less the non-refundable deposit) or you may reschedule the event to the next available date and apply all payments already made toward your reservation to the new reservation.