During the 2025-2026 school year, eight EAST programs across the state worked on 16 projects with the Little Rock Zoo, creating new devices like a medical box for Komodo dragons and several animal feeders, enhancing the quality of life of animals in the zoo.

The Komodo Medical Box project was led by EAST students from Sulphur Rock Magnet Elementary School in Batesville, Ark. Fifth grader Mylah Hoffman learned how the size of Komodo dragons makes it challenging for zoo staff to perform medical procedures, creating a need for a structure to contain the animal.

“Komodo dragons are strong and dangerous, making routine medical care risky,” Mylah said. “So we designed an exam box in TinkerCAD to figure out the correct dimensions we needed, the biggest challenge was determining the materials we needed and gathering them to build the box.”

FARCO, a construction company located in northeast Arkansas, partnered with the students by donating thousands of dollars worth of supplies so their design could become a reality. FARCO Community Director Amy Finster found the project to be “something different” and relished the opportunity to work with students in the construction industry.

“I recruited one of my coworkers to come meet with the class, and the three fifth graders already had created a wonderful design,” Finster said. “We had some suggestions for some minor tweaks and then we helped them order the materials and construct [the box.]”

The partnership between EAST Initiative and the Little Rock Zoo is a symbiotic one, with students experiencing unique opportunities to work with zoo staff and animals while also presenting real value to the Zoo’s conservation efforts.

Mickey Thompson is the Community Partnerships Program Coordinator at the Little Rock Zoo and directly works with the EAST students involved with Project Zoo. He says these projects provide real value for the Zoo by keeping zoo staff safe and animals happy and healthy.

“These projects would have potentially cost us upwards of thousands of dollars,” Thompson said. “They are helping us while we are able to give them their own experiences, and these are very applicable projects that our keepers are able to use on a daily basis.”