The HSLC is open Monday - Friday from 8:00 AM - 4:30 PM. Volunteer hours are regularly offered between 8:30a and 11:30a, and 1:00p and 4p, Monday through Friday.

The Center is closed and does not offer volunteer hours on Saturdays and Sundays except for occasional special events.

Volunteers must:

• Be at least 16 years old

• Have a signed release

• Have a valid state ID

• Have an approved Voly application for Plano ISD (this includes a background check and is renewed annually in August)

• Be willing to commit to a regular schedule

• Feel physically capable of safely performing tasks that may include bending, lifting, repetitive movements, and outdoor activities

• Be cognizant of their reaction to common allergens (pet dander, hay, fur)

• Wear close-toed shoes, school appropriate attire, and clothes that can get messy!

If you are a high school student with scheduling conflicts but would still like to volunteer with us, please consider contacting us for summer or holiday break volunteer opportunities.

If you would like to invite friends or family to come and volunteer with you during your shift, please let us know well in advance of your shift. They will also need to meet the above requirements before being eligible to volunteer with us.

Working in the animal room involves a large amount of physicality. We require wearing closed toe shoes, minimal jewelry or other "dangling" items, clothes appropriate for an elementary school setting, and clothes that can get dirty!

Both our staff and our animals appreciate your interest in volunteering your time with us!

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Tasks you may expect to help with when volunteering with the animals include:

• Cleaning cages and habitats

• Meal prep

• Serving foods and water to animals

• Gardening

• Supervising play time or enrichment activities for animals

• Helping with enclosure construction

• Aquarium maintenance

• Wild foraging in a wooded area (for items like acorns, dandelion, or honeysuckle)

Tasks you may expect to help with when volunteering on the educational side of the program include:

• Leading students on lesson-specific trail walks

• Gardening activities

• Supply organization

Please keep in mind that in volunteering with the Animal Room at our facility, you will be working either directly or indirectly with a wide range of different species with different behaviors, personalities, and care needs, as well as with our staff, other volunteers, and children of all ages.

Please stay at home and notify us of your absence if, at some point during the time you are volunteering with us, you contract Influenza or Covid-19. There are some animals you may be required to wear a mask to work around due to their age and/or their ability to contract this virus.

Please be sure to bring a valid state ID on your first day of volunteering at the Center so that we can issue you a temporary Raptor ID badge for identification and campus security purposes.

If you have any questions, please contact our Front Office at (469) 752-1193, e-mail our Animal Curator Elisa Caywood - Best at elisa.caywoodbest@pisd.edu for Animal Room related activities, or Brett Taylor at brett.taylor@pisd.edu for Education related activities.