By Jennifer Mrozowski
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Most students would be terrified to have snakes and rats in their classroom.

Not the students from the Zoo Academy located at the Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden.

The 11 seniors, who received awards presented by My-Thai the elephant during a ceremony at the zoo Thursday night, are accustomed to spending their school days feeding rats to baby Anaconda snakes, dissecting clams and crabs or even eating honey ants.

"I was so afraid of snakes," said Angela Hatcher, 18, one of this year's zoo academy graduates. "I wouldn't have wanted to touch one if someone gave me a whole bunch of money.

"But instead of clinging to that fear, I learned about them."

Snakes were just one of many types of animals Hatcher learned about while attending the Zoo Academy for the last two years.

The Zoo Academy, a Cincinnati Public School program located on the grounds of the Cincinnati Zoo, combines vocational training with college prep course work.

Hatcher, who spent part of her day before the graduation ceremony cleaning the birdcages of an endangered Guam Rail and a testy Rhinoceros Hornbill guarding her eggs, plans to attend Michigan State University. She will likely study to be a zoo veterinarian.

Zoo Academy students spend their freshman and sophomore years taking courses such as Algebra I, Biology and Modern and U.S. History at the Cincinnati Academy of Mathematics and Science at Hughes Center in University Heights.

During their junior and senior years, they spend their school days at the zoo, gaining work experience and taking more classes.

Students graduate with a vocational certificate recognized by the state showing that they have 720 hours of work experience in zoo animal care and conservation. The expectation, though, is that the students go on to college for more training.

One hundred percent of students in the Zoo Academy program have graduated in the last four years. A quarter of the zoo's 60-plus keepers are Zoo Academy graduates.

This is the academy's 26th graduating class.

The school at the zoo makes course work interesting for some students who otherwise wouldn't care much, said Danielle Perry, 18, of Batavia.

She pays tuition to attend the Zoo Academy because she doesn't reside in the Cincinnati school district.

"My mom almost breaks the bank," she said.

But it's worth it because it keeps her in school, Perry said.

"When I was at Glen Este, I hated school," she said as she cleaned cages of milk snakes. "But when I came here, it just clicked. I do really well now, and I want to get my Ph.D."

On Thursday, students received a faux diploma from My-Thai. They'll attend a graduation ceremony for Hughes Center students Tuesday at Xavier University's Cintas Center, where they'll receive their real diplomas free from elephant mucus.

E-mail jmrozowski@enquirer.com