# Dendrobati - School Program



## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

School Program – Teachers/School Representatives​
*Dendrobati* is actively dedicated to promoting and support educational programs that can help creating a strong sense of *preservation, respect and understanding* of animal life among kids. 


If you are a teacher or represent a school and you *want to get the kids excited about the developing, breeding and behavior of dart frogs *but you need help, you might have just found the right place to ask for help!


As you must understand, we do not have unlimited resources to be able to help every school that applies. However, *every year we aim to support a minimum of 3 School Programs*. Apply, and if your class/school is chosen for the program, we will contact you. 


***Every application is valid for the calendar year. If you applied in 2013 but weren’t chosen, you will have to reapply in 2014.** *


*Please read the following to know more about the School Program.​* 

*What we can provide:*

Tanks (10 and/or 20 gallon tanks)
 Plants suitable for dart frog tanks
 Bugs (springtails, fruit flies and isopods)
 Supplies in general for your class to build the tank (like substrate) and care for the frogs (like tadpole food)
 Tadpoles, froglets and/or adult frogs

*What we don’t provide:*
We do not, under any circumstance, give financial aid. Anything necessary for the project that we do not have in stock and agreed helping with will be bought by us and delivered/sent to you by us or a third party.

*How to apply:*
Write us at [email protected] if you have a project in mind that you would like us to support.

*On your message, please include:*
School name and location of it
 If you are a teacher, what class do you teach 
 What are the ages of the students that will be the target of the program 
 In just two or three lines, describe the type of students you have 
 What materials and/or frogs you would need from us 
 Why is it important for you having your class experience this 
 If you have ever kept dart frogs (it is okay if you haven't, we just want to make sure that, if we accepted your project, we give you all the support you need for the frogs to be happy and healthy) 
 Where will the frogs stay during school vacations (if you are not sure about this yet, it is okay, we can try helping you to find a solution) 
 Would your school allow it for pictures of the project to be sent and used by us 
 Your first and last name and the best way to contact you (if possible, provide a phone number)
*Important notes:*
Prior to final acceptance, we will need written consent from your school’s administration to allow such a project.
 We are located in Maine, and while we are more than willing to travel some, if you live on the other side of the country, it is harder to get tanks to you, for example. Keep that in mind when you send us a list of what you need. 
 Since this is a project about animals and their development, we do give priority to classes that are biology related. That does not mean that we can’t do the project with any other class!



Thank you!
Brad & Marta, @ Dendrobati

Download PDF copy of this page here.

Dendrobati School Program


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## Nath514 (Jul 8, 2012)

Awesome Idea!


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## GP dynamite (Feb 19, 2013)

It's a really good thing you guys are doing. Kudos and multitudes of success to you.


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## KDuraiswamy (Dec 2, 2012)

As the others said, I think this a very great and thoughtful project, and I'm sure it will be very successful. A few questions out of curiosity:

Are there any specific species of dart frogs that you will be supplying for this program?
Do you have any plans of expanding this program in the future (if it works well)?

Also, I may have missed it, but along the lines of "Where will the frogs stay during school vacations (if you are not sure about this yet, it is okay, we can try helping you to find a solution)", you could also add "How will you control the temperature for the frogs (if you are not sure about this yet, it is okay, we can try helping you to find a solution)." I think I've read some threads where teachers have difficulty finding a way to maintain temps in their classroom.


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## srrrio (May 12, 2007)

This is a pretty critical issue ! 



KDuraiswamy said:


> "How will you control the temperature for the frogs (if you are not sure about this yet, it is okay, we can try helping you to find a solution)." I think I've read some threads where teachers have difficulty finding a way to maintain temps in their classroom.


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## leeslikkers (Mar 31, 2013)

A really great program...you guys should be proud of pulling this together!

(I homeschool my 2 boys, 13 and 10, do we qualify?  )


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Thank you for your support and suggestions! 

_*How will you control the temperature for the frogs*_ - This is in fact a very big item and something that will be discussed on case by case bases - a long with many other items. We have options and possibilities for temperature control. With that, it is not an item that we feel we need to address at the first contact. The intention of the first contact is only as a base to start further, deeper conversations. 


_*Are there any specific species of dart frogs that you will be supplying for this program?*_ - No, there are not specific species of frogs that we are working with for this intention. We will work with the teacher, school, or program to select the right frog for the project. It all depends on the needs and goals of the recipients. 

_*Do you have any plans of expanding this program in the future (if it works well)?*_ Yes, we would love to be able to meet the needs of every request, not just 3 to 5 request per year.

We will post information shortly about the first project of this kind we've worked with, who has now had frogs and tadpoles for about two weeks. 

Thank you,
Brad


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

leeslikkers said:


> A really great program...you guys should be proud of pulling this together!
> 
> (I homeschool my 2 boys, 13 and 10, do we qualify?  )


Funny! I don't think so, I am sorry!

Marta


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## leeslikkers (Mar 31, 2013)

Dendrobati said:


> Funny! I don't think so, I am sorry!
> 
> Marta


I wouldn't want you folks use your resources for just 2 kids, it was meant as "Friday Humor"...the bigger picture of a large classroom is where we'll all see much larger benefits and exposure for the issues these Frogs face. Great work, it is refreshing to see business' reaching out and thinking outside the box...well done.


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## r.avalos (Apr 10, 2013)

This sounds like such a great program, wish I heard of this when I was in high school a few years back. Learning about frogs and the ecology in a vivarium would have made biology class so much more interesting to those who have a hard time grasping concepts. Props to you guys for having such a great program in place.


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## sports_doc (Nov 15, 2004)

Hi Brad.

I'd like to help if I can as well. Lord knows I have enough left over tanks ;-)

Now, I have some experience in this area.

I tried the same at a local school here in NH. 

Here were some challenges:

1. Feeding and FF's culturing.
2. Instruction. While it is second nature to us, the school kids need detailed written instructions on day to day care.
3. Losses. Can be hard on the kids. I'd pick easy bold frogs like Auratus, Tincs, epips and the like.
4. The biggest issue. Controlling the environment, from Temperature [Schools run on budgets and turn off heating and cooling when kids are not in school], to long breaks away [Winter break, spring break, summer].

All needs to be taken into consideration and accounted for ahead of time.

What I settled on -->

I give them a pet each year as a mascot. A tortoise, a box turtle, salamanders, leopard gecko etc. I send food to school each week with a local teacher as well as take the animals back during each break. 

It's a bit of a burden, and only possible bc it is my local school. 

You would need to identify a teacher, parent or child the was charged with this responsibility.

If I can help, let me know.

ALSO: I give a 'project week' class to the kids in spring. We hunt for frogs in ponds, read some short books appropriate for the ages, the field trip my frog room, and we take pictures with them holding some tree frog or something else. [Oh how they love the Dubia roach colony ;-) ] and we've even done terrarium building and background building projects together. 

I still have some of the kids backgrounds in my vivs actually.

Good luck.

Shawn


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## mfsidore (Oct 10, 2012)

Do you take everything back when the school year is done?


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

This is awesome...I wish this was around when I was in the classroom!


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## JonRich (Oct 19, 2012)

I offered to do this at my kid's school (kindergarten). The school board had some concerns with salmonella associated with reptiles and amphibians and it was eventually rejected. 

I went to an Environmental HS (High School For Environmental Studies) and they also were just limited to fish at the time. 

I personally think it would be great to expose kids to "out of the norm" classroom pets. Great thing you are doing.


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## Gocubs (Apr 23, 2012)

Applied! Awesome idea!


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

sports_doc said:


> Hi Brad.
> ...
> I'd like to help if I can as well. Lord knows I have enough left over tanks ;-)
> ...


Thank you Shawn. We'll take you up on that for sure. 


When Marta and I first started talking about such a program, it seemed very easy on the surface. Digging in deeper definitively proves to have some challenges. We're always open to ideas and thoughts. Here are our ideas, thoughts, and plans surrounding the challenges correctly identified.

1. Feeding and FF's culturing.
*This is a big item. Animals need to be feed and food has a cost. We don't want the burden of the cost to be on the school; or worse, the teacher. Any project that we work with, Dendrobati will be the source for the culturing supplies, at no cost. However, the burden of making the cultures needs to be on someone at the school's side. At this time, it's too costly to ship live cultures on a normal schedule. 

There will of course be mistakes with the fly cultures and live ones can be shipped as needed. *​
2. Instruction. While it is second nature to us, the school kids need detailed written instructions on day to day care.
*This is an area that I need to work on. Detailed care sheets are very important. I'm hopefully for some outside help in this area, perhaps from someone who writes much better than I do. Volunteers are welcome. =)*​
3. Losses. Can be hard on the kids. I'd pick easy bold frogs like Auratus, Tincs, epips and the like.
*Agreed. The frog selection is very important. *​
4. The biggest issue. Controlling the environment, from Temperature [Schools run on budgets and turn off heating and cooling when kids are not in school], to long breaks away [Winter break, spring break, summer].
*I believe this will be the largest hurdle. There has to be someone who can be and is willing to take the frogs home with them for school breaks and times of excessive heat. As long as the school approves use of electric heaters, the tanks can be heated with a thermostatically controlled mat or many other heaters. 

Ideally the tank size will be kept small so that it can be transported a couple times a year.
*​
Do you take everything back when the school year is done?
*Ideally, no. However, one possibility would be to get frogs, eggs, or tadpoles in a classroom for a pre-determined period of time. Although what we are geared towards is permanent placement, it doesn't have to be. *​
The school board had some concerns with salmonella associated with reptiles and amphibians and it was eventually rejected. 
*School approval is very important. Like with all things, some schools are more open to the idea than others. Either way, we need to respect the rules.*​


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## tarbo96 (Jan 12, 2006)

If you have someone on the Gulfcoast of Florida participating I would be willing to be a point of contact. I have had a huge collection(100+ frogs) in my classroom in the past and students helped me with the care.

I was at a charter school and had access to tanks over breaks.

Bill


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## kitcolebay (Apr 7, 2012)

Very nicely done and well thought out! 

Obviously, the program will develop even more as various issues and scenarios come about.

I had placed a very simple and small comment on my website when I started it a few months ago about hoping to help out any educational programs as opportunity allows. I don't have the offspring or resources to do any good at the moment. Mine is a matter of intentions at this point.

I think it's absolutely awesome that you have the resources and the plans to carry this out! The fact that you're pretty well supplying the whole package is great! Kudos to you two for your hard work, planning, and generosity!

If you don't mind, maybe I could benchmark some of your fine ideas when/if the times comes that I can help contribute. Either that, or I could help donate frogs or resources to your program.

Personally, I've had some generous help from others and a lot of support from some fine members on here. I'd love to be able to help pay it forward, share this wonderful hobby, and introduce more people to these beautiful creatures! (Similar to what you're doing.) 

Once again, great job and keep up the terrific work you're doing!

-Chris


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## ForbiddenFrogs (Feb 5, 2013)

I try to help out schools and less fortunate kids as much as I can, so if you guys need alil help out here in the cali area let me know ill see what i can do


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## Spaff (Jan 8, 2011)

Brad and Marta,

I think this is a great idea! I've kicked around the idea of biology teaching for a bit once I get out of school and having a tank in the classroom would be a useful tool in my opinion. 

I know this is just in the beginning stages, but have you thought of providing example labs to incorporate amphibian biology into the curriculum? Simple things such as how temps affect metamorphosis or the rate of metamorphosis of tank raised tads compared to tads raised out of the tank would be both educational to kids and allow for a "class pet". 

If you'd like to try to incorporate this but need help, give me about a month to finish school and I'll kick around some ideas and write up procedures that you can provide.


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## morg (Jul 28, 2012)

I sent in an application. I've been teaching 8th grade Science for a decade and this could be the perfect opportunity for me. I keep 4 species at home but the startup in my classroom usually took a backseat to other priorities. 
Thanks for the opportunity!


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Spaff said:


> Brad and Marta,
> 
> I think this is a great idea! I've kicked around the idea of biology teaching for a bit once I get out of school and having a tank in the classroom would be a useful tool in my opinion.
> 
> ...


That is an excellent idea!
Honestly, we hadn't thought about that at all.

We would really appreciate it if you could work with us on that, I think that would give the program some extra valuable and make it more complete.

Marta


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Thanks to everyone that is willing to help and being supportive about this!

We will for sure get back to the ones willing to help schools near where they leave to see if they are available to donate something if we choose a school there. 

This is a lot of work, requires a lot of resources to do, at all levels. It is also very time consuming when we start the process with a teacher/school, but it is worth it for sure. 

Of course, as we do this more often, we learn, improve our methods and make it more efficient for everyone. 

We have recently finished a project with a school and we feel like we did a very good job. We sent a total of 7 frogs that are worth $500 than and 3 tadpoles that, when they morph, could be sold for a total of around $230. That's $730 worth of frogs.

We have received in the past 2 weeks a lot of applications for the program.
Unfortunately, some of them are more about the teacher than the kids, like when teachers ask for a pair of Sylvatica, Escudos, Bastimentos Gold Dust and so on to put in their classroom.  

It is not always easy to see who is in it for the kids and who is in it for the free cool frogs and everything that goes with it. We will only help the ones that we have no doubts are truly just trying to help the kids.

Marta 




Marta


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

Just a quick update and example:

http://www.dendroboard.com/forum/northeast/95229-classroom-vivaria-success.html

This was a joint effort from many different parties to provide what was needed.


Brad


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## morg (Jul 28, 2012)

I'm a little offended. I am a Science teacher of 11 years and don't know of any teacher who is selfish and not doing everything with the kids in mind. 
We, as teachers, are used to asking / begging for donated supplies. It's a part of the job to want the most for our students when both our personal salaries and school budget has been cut 3 years in a row. 

I personally didn't ask for any frogs in my application.... Just assistance.


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## carola1155 (Sep 10, 2007)

morg said:


> I'm a little offended. I am a Science teacher of 11 years and don't know of any teacher who is selfish and not doing everything with the kids in mind.
> We, as teachers, are used to asking / begging for donated supplies. It's a part of the job to want the most for our students when both our personal salaries and school budget has been cut 3 years in a row.
> 
> I personally didn't ask for any frogs in my application.... Just assistance.


I don't know why you would offended by this... If you were, clearly it wasn't meant for you. Personally, I wasn't shocked at all by that post. 

I know there are a lot of great teachers out there that sacrifice a lot. My mom has been buying science supplies for her class for years and I've been helping here by bringing my frogs in and doing lessons with them for a few years now too. Having said that... There are a few people out there that are just there for a paycheck and a pension. 

I dont want to turn this into a debate about the stare of education in the county... I just want to say that I think what Brad and Marta are doing is great and I don't think that statement was in any way an attack on the good people out there like you that truly care about their students. They are just bringing a real issue to light. I doubt they meant it to offend anyone.


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## Dendrobati (Jul 27, 2012)

morg said:


> I'm a little offended. I am a Science teacher of 11 years and don't know of any teacher who is selfish and not doing everything with the kids in mind.
> We, as teachers, are used to asking / begging for donated supplies. It's a part of the job to want the most for our students when both our personal salaries and school budget has been cut 3 years in a row.
> 
> I personally didn't ask for any frogs in my application.... Just assistance.


I have no idea why would you be offended by this. I have never mentioned your name, never even thought of your when I wrote the post, never EVER did or said anything related to you or your application. In fact, I see absolutely nothing wrong with your application, and, if it even matters, it was highly considered by me.

I personally do not think that asking for frogs like pairs of sylvaticas (I did not get one application asking for this, I got FOUR and many others asking for other type of rare frogs) and so on is reasonable, acceptable and, as a matter of fact, I actually think it is quite disrespectful to do such request. 
Another example, I don't think that asking for a proven trio of wild caught black jeans from a specific line is reasonable either. Maybe that's just me...

I am sorry if you are offended by us not wanting to give pairs of sylvaticas away for schools to play with. We help with what we can, it is a HUGE expense for us and we do our best, but yes, sylvaticas and other frogs, for us, are out of the question for SO MANY reasons. 

It is a lot of work to make sure I can distinguish between the teachers that are in it for the kids and the ones that are in it for the free cool frogs, and I am doing my very best. I don't want to break your heart and be the one give you the news, but yes, there are people in it for the free stuff, not for the kids, not everyone is honest. 

All this being said, I am extremely confident with our first choice and happy with the results (the thread was updated with pictures and new infos today) and we plan on keep going.

Thanks, and then again, sorry if I offended you in any way,
Marta


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

I'm a teacher, and I very much understand what Marta is talking about because if I were to apply, I'd be thinking more about me getting some free frogs. That's why I won't apply.


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## morg (Jul 28, 2012)

I may be a little sensitive. I hear alot of "bad teacher" stories via Facebook. And I just haven't been exposed to those so I'm quick to respond / defend my profession.


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Understandable. We all hear about bad teachers, but I haven't really met any ether. They're out there, but few and far between. There's not enough money in teaching to attract most of the scumbags. As the media blows things out of proportion, you'd think there's a lot more out there.


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## GP dynamite (Feb 19, 2013)

Like with any profession, there will be a few bad apples. I believe what Brad and Marta are trying to convey was how some smarmy people that happened to be teachers were trying to utilize the program to obtain free higher end frogs for their own personal agendas.


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## Profe (Jun 24, 2012)

Awesome program. Glad to hear that frogs are going to the right teachers and programs. One of these days I'll set up a vivarium in my classroom. Great teaching tool.


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