Jungle Joe Discovery Center brings nature to kids

By Emily Sorensen

Are your children budding scientists or animal lovers? Jungle Joe Discovery Center has programs that might be right for them.

Jungle Joe Discovery Center, which recently opened at 14009 Midland Road in the Old Poway Village Shopping Center, offers a variety of afternoon, weekend and in-class educational programs based on life science and animals.

Owned and operated by Joe Harvey, the educational center is home to a variety of animals used in his educational programs, including several lizards, snakes, spiders, frogs and a bird.

While Jungle Joe Discovery Center isn’t a petting zoo, it is a place where kids can spend time hands-on with animals, learning how to care for them.

The center offers afternoon programs for children in fourth grade through eighth grade, on Tuesdays and Thursdays; Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; or five days a week, depending on your preference. Attendees will spend time finishing homework and being offered tutoring by AVID students, who can earn volunteer hours through the program.

When homework is complete, the kids will get to participate in a variety of fun activities, including being responsible for keeping a record of their assigned animal, feeding it, and documenting its growth, health, behavior and feeding patterns. “The kids will be like little keepers,” said Harvey.

The attendees will also work on projects, like designing a new terrarium or setting up small breeding programs for the frogs.

Harvey also has a Saturday morning program for children between 5 and 10 years old, which will be more about looking at the animals and less about projects, as well as a Friday evening program for ages 10 and up, where kids can enjoy science, watch nature documentaries and more.

Harvey also plans to offer day camps during Poway Unified School District holidays for fourth grade and up. All camps and programs require registration to participate.

“Having worked as an educator and as a zookeeper, I’ve found it really inspiring to involve kids in science and nature,” said Harvey. “I grew up being a complete animal freak, and I thought everybody else should be too.”

Harvey also offers classroom visits, and is cleared by the school district to be a visitor and bring his animals in for a fun science lesson. He usually brings about six to eight animals for his classroom visits, and adapts his program to what the students are currently learning about in life science.

Harvey began his educational program in Texas, before moving with his family to Germany as part of his career in the Department of Defense, training curriculum specialists. Harvey also taught at Camp Pendleton and Coronado.

“It was a lot of administrative work,” said Harvey, “and I missed being hands-on with the kids and animals.”

During his college years, Harvey worked as a bird keeper at the Dallas Zoo, and as an educator at the San Diego Zoo.

With the opening of his new store, Harvey has been able to revive his original Texas program in a physical location. “It lets small groups visit, which is ideal,” said Harvey. “I wanted to create what I wished was around when I was that age. Where I could go and be around animals all day. I ended up creating that place.”

For information on the various programs Jungle Joe Discovery Center offers, call 858-449-1658, contact joe@junglejoe.com or visit www.junglejoe.com.