DTE Energy Foundation, the philanthropic arm of DTE Energy, supports community institutions as well as future-oriented educational, environmental, diversity and development initiatives.

“Zoolastic Achievement – Explosion 2009” will offer educators tips on planning and optimizing school group visits to the Detroit Zoo.  Tours of the Zoo will highlight animal habitats and exhibits that feature interactive learning options.  Teachers and administrators will learn about the Ford Education Center’s Interpretive Studios, Wild Adventure Ride, Madeleine Berman Academy for Humane Education and the DTE Energy Foundation Humane Science Lab.  Guests will also meet David Gakure, Kenyan conservationist and Detroit Zoo Education Specialist, who engages students at the Zoo and in the classroom with stories of people and wildlife in the African Grasslands.

Online registration for “Zoolastic Achievement – Explosion 2009” is available until August 31 at http://www.detroitzoo.org/zoolastic/.

The Detroit Zoological Society is a non-profit organization that operates the Detroit Zoo and Belle Isle Nature Zoo.  Situated on 125 acres of naturalistic exhibits, the Detroit Zoo is located at the intersection of Ten Mile Road and Woodward Avenue, just off I-696, in Royal Oak.  The Detroit Zoo is open daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. April through Labor Day (with extended hours until 8 p.m. Wednesdays during July and August), 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. day after Labor Day through October and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. November through March.  Admission is $11 for adults 15 to 61, $9 for senior citizens 62 and older, and $7 for children ages 2 to 14; children under 2 are free.  For more information, call (248) 541-5717 or visit www.detroitzoo.org.  The Belle Isle Nature Zoo is open daily 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. year-round and provides educational programming with interpretive staff support from the Huron-Clinton Metroparks.  Admission is free.  For more information, call (313) 852-4056. 
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