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Night Zoo Keeper Paul Hutson talks to kindergarten students at Wheatland Elementary about their drawings Nov. 6.

Zookeeper encourages creativity
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: November 12, 2015

Paul Hutson was just a face with a voice on a computer screen.

But last week, he became real to a group of elementary school students in Valley Center.

Hutson, a so-called night zookeeper, visited Wheatland and Abilene Nov. 5 and 6 to talk to students about reading, writing and drawing, using their creativity to improve literacy and problem-solving skills.

Hutson is part of the Night Zoo Keeper organization from London, England. The group produces children's books and online interactive tools to "inspire" kids, the group says.

"I spent an amazing two days in Valley Center, at both Wheatland and Abilene Elementary schools," Hutson said. "I must say that I was very impressed by the attitudes towards learning from all students that I met during my time at the schools. This is a real credit to all of the teachers that obviously work so hard with the students in Valley Center."

Classes in Valley Center have been Skyping with Hutson recently and were surprised by his visit.

At Wheatland, Hutson asked a group of kindergarten students to use four unrelated words to create an imaginary animal.

"Draw a cowboy cheetah dog that eats ham," Hutson said.

With a group of first-graders, Hutson had different students draw a part of an animal and then pass their papers to other students to draw additional parts. The exercise went on until they created make-believe animals.

Hutson led workshops for kindergarten and first-grade students. Students in second through fourth grades took part in other activities centered on the Night Zoo Keeper's website.

The imaginary Night Zoo houses a variety of animals, including time-traveling elephants and spying giraffes.

"I made the trip all the way from London, UK, to show the children nightzookeeper.com, which is an online tool that helps to develop their writing skills," Hutson explained. "The children at the two schools all now have an account and have started to produce some amazing pieces of writing already. I hope that I was able to provide some inspiration and creative ideas to provide the motivation for them to practice their writing skills over the coming months. I am sure we will (see) excitement and enthusiasm for writing as they continue to use the website both at home and at school."





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