Madison Thomas joined KGUN 9 in July of 2023 as a multimedia journalist. She graduated from Arizona State University in May of 2023 with a degree in journalism and mass communication, a minor in political science and certificate in cross-sector leadership.
TUCSON, Ariz. — The Reid Park Zoo and Banner Diamond Children’s Medical Center partnered for a fun and educational event for kids to teach them about health and wellness for themselves and animals on October 14.
“Unfortunately, a lot of kids experience medical trauma and so here we're here to help kind of break that medical trauma or prevent that medical trauma and a lot of that is with preparation and support,” Hadley Trull, the Associate Director of Child Life Department at Banner said. “This is a safe environment, a lot of times when we’re in the medical environment we’re kind of in our fight or flight panic mode and we can’t learn new skills.
The Reid Park Zoo has been holding the event for over ten years, but this was the biggest one yet, because of the newly added partnership with Banner. The first 1,000 kids at the event were given teddy bears or they could bring their own to take through different stations throughout the zoo. Rachel Chen who is a high school student and volunteer at the zoo said, “Kids interact with different things we're doing. They go through the receptionist, the nurse and then they get their bandage or vaccination for their teddy bears. It gives them a chance to learn about the different steps and also get involved.”