The second article for Throwback Thursdays sheds light on Jake Meney, who started at PCS in Kindergarten, and is now a Zookeeper.
Whilst other kids read Pokémon and played on the Xbox, Jake was subscribing to Reptile magazines and watching videos on them. He studied reptiles from the age of five, and had many interesting scaly pets. In Year 3, Jake received an award for catching a Redback Spider in the playground and the award stated ‘Considering the safety of others’, but as his Mum said, he probably just wanted it as a pet. Steve Irwin was a major influence on Jake at a young age, and if he was going fancy dress, then he would be dressed as Steve. His goal at school was to become a herpetologist and work with venom.
In high school, Jake took every opportunity to do work experience at the Australian Reptile Park and this led to him getting a job there as a Reptile and Spider Keeper. When Jake had his license, the school called on him to come and help with a brown snake spotted in the Junior School area. He caught it and released it in the wild. Jake currently runs the educational shows at the Australian Reptile Park in the Central Coast as the crocodile handler.