Queens Youth Get a STEM Education from “Mr. Frankie”

This piece comes to us from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). Views and opinions expressed in blog posts are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.

Fields of long grass. Dirt roads. Taking lemons from the neighbor’s tree that had grown into her backyard. Being woken up by the shrill cuckoo of a rooster at the same exact time every morning. To discuss my professional journey is to acknowledge the innate appreciation for nature my mother shared with me from her own experience growing up in rural Argentina.

When she immigrated to the United States in the late 1990s, dirt roads and grassy fields were replaced by the weeds going through the cracks of concrete sidewalks, the squawks of wild birds by the honks of rush hour traffic on Second Avenue. I was born soon after and as a newcomer to the country with a young child, my mother made a point of exposing me to an upbringing as similar to her own as possible.

This began with her teaching me Spanish and making Argentinian food, but the connection to nature was always a priority. Only a 15-minute walk from my childhood apartment, Central Park became a fixture in my life growing up. Old photos show me toddling through the Conservatory Gardens in a flannel-patterned onesie.

Frankie in 2017 at El Cadillal, a nature area an hour from his mom’s hometown in Argentina. Photo courtesy of Frankie Molina.

My mother took me to other parts of the city as well that reminded her of home. I’ve always liked visiting the New York Hall of Science for their science playground, and my mom always liked hanging out with her friends at parillas, the distinctly Argentinian-style barbecue at the nearby Flushing Meadows Corona Park. She made a concerted effort to have me experience the more natural parts of the city.

My journey as an educator started in my undergraduate years at New York University while pursuing my bachelor’s in social work. As a first-generation college student, I immersed myself in everything my university had to offer, which included a part-time job. I got a work-study job with a nonprofit that trains students to help preschool-aged children in the Lower East Side to develop their reading skills.

When I first entered the classroom, I was greeted by the quiet, curious faces of the children we were to work with for the next nine months. It was riveting to watch them grow and develop their reading skills. When you work with kids, you establish a community with the educators and families that comprise their support network.

As the year went on, every time I entered the classroom, eyes lit up followed by a chorus of “Mr. Frankie!” If I could have this impact just by taking time out of my day to read with them, what else were they capable of if given a chance?

Answering that question has been my guiding star ever since. I initially started working with the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) as a Conservation Camp Counselor at Central Park Zoo. It was awesome to see how many kids were impacted by wildlife such that they attended a camp not only to learn about them, but to explore how they could support them!

Frankie feeding the farm animals at Demarest farms in New Jersey in 2019, something he continues to enjoy today at his job in Queens. Photo courtesy of Frankie Molina.

Towards the end of my time with the Central Park Zoo, I was recommended to apply for the full-time Conservation Educator position at Queens Zoo, where I currently work. Since September 2022, I’ve had the privilege of working on projects that serve the zoo’s surrounding community of Corona, Queens.

One such project involved focus groups that took place in Spanish with community members in Corona and Elmhurst. Those important conversations reflected the zoo’s responsibility to the local communities they serve. Cultural humility requires recognizing our own limitations, biases, and blind spots while also proactively addressing them both through action and a commitment to lifelong learning.

In 2023, WCS launched STEM Starters, a multi-session education program designed to create STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) learning opportunities for teachers and students who attend two early childhood education centers in Corona.

Frankie leads a class of preschoolers in the STEM Starters grant program, introducing them to the different domestic animals that reside at the Queens Zoo. Photo ©WCS.

As the lead zoo educator, I teach all of the programs at the zoo and the schools—working with the youngsters to explore science in new ways and meeting their families during our Family Day at the Zoo. On those days, it’s nice for the kids to be able to show their parents, siblings and friends around the zoo and demonstrate that they have someone already at the park who speaks their language and is a part of their community.

Perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned that no child is too young to be introduced to STEM topics that encourage their natural curiosity to explore their natural world, much as I did in the fields of Central Park all those years ago.

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