Join the Docents

The time commitment for being a Docent is a minimum of fifty hours per calendar year. At least thirty-five of these hours are spent in public contact hours, and at least seven are in continuing educational activities

Docents must be 21 years of age or older and at ease in dealing with the public. Duties require public speaking skills and an outgoing manner with strangers. We must maintain a calm demeanor in dealing with the unexpected.

Membership in the Docent Association does not lead to employment at the Columbus Zoo.

Docents do not handle exotic animals.

Docent Training

Docent applicants are interviewed for a seat in our annual training class. The Docent training classes are held in early spring (February through April) and require:

8 weeks of Saturday classes. Hours are typically 8:00 am to 4:00 pm.
Completion of all training requirements before graduation.
Outside walking each week, regardless of the weather.
Class attendance each week. Failure to attend classes may result in dismissal from the class.

A registration fee of $130 is due the first day of class, and covers the cost of:

Docent manual
Uniform shirt
Dues
Class fees
Background check fee
Docent name badge

Following the training year, annual membership dues for docents are $30, and includes a Zoo membership.

Join Us!

The Columbus Zoo Docent Association is taking applications for the 2011 class until December 1, 2010. Applicants will be contacted in December to be interviewed for the new docent class.

If you would like to be considered for the next Columbus Zoo Docent Association class, please print this application form and mail it to the address on the bottom of the form.

(The application form is an Adobe Acrobat PDF file; if you cannot open it, you can get the free file reader here.)

If you would prefer, you can download the Microsoft Word document version of the application to fill in on your computer. The application can be emailed to application@czda.org.

Questions? Feel free to contact us at application@czda.org.