Last week, the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo opened the highly anticipated Rosebrough Tiger Passage.

First announced last September, the $4.1 million installation occupies a staggering 48,000 square feet, which includes the space designated for the cats as well as their adoring fans. The new habitat includes climbing poles, meadows, shallow streams, soaking pools and outdoor overnight access. Visitors can enjoy highly interactive viewing as the animals have access to overhead catwalks. Large viewing windows and paths that traverse the environment round out the experience, which encourages visitors to explore and seek out the Zoo's two resident Amur tigers, Klechka, a 12-year old male, and Dasha, a 15-year-old female.
 
Per Andi Kornak, the Zoo's director of animal and veterinary programs, the two cats wintered at the Zoo's Sarah Allison Steffee Center for Zoological Medicine while Panzica Construction Company of Mayfield Village completed the build-out of the new habitat. The Cleveland based firm Van Auken Akin Architects and WDM Architects out of Wichita, Kansas; which specializes in creating sustainable, authentic environments that immerse and inspire zoo visitors; designed the sprawling space.
 
The two cats were understandably shy during the grand opening, said Kornak.
 
"It will take them a few weeks to acclimate to their new exhibit," she noted during the event. "It's five times the size of the old one so there's lot of space to explore and become comfortable with."
 
The Zoo's executive director Christopher Kuhar said the space is designed to allow the animals to prowl, climb and saunter around in a way that they've never had the opportunity to do before.
 
"While it seems that we're focusing exclusively on the animals," said Kuhar, "the reality is that the best possible guest experience is to see animals performing their natural behavioral repertoire, to see them moving around and exercising and doing all those really cool things that cats do."
 
Kuhar added that the new exhibit also focuses on education as there are only 500 Amur tigers left in the wild.
 
"We want to connect people with wildlife, to inspire personal responsibility to take conservation action," he said. "What we hope is that people are going to see these great cats and be inspired to do something in their own way to help animals in the wild."
 

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Urban Community School (UCS), 4909 Lorain Avenue, has been named the only National Green Ribbon School in the state of Ohio by the U.S. Department of Education, which gives this distinction to select schools, districts, and educational institutions across the country for success in reducing environmental impact and utility cost, improving health and wellness, and ensuring effective environmental education. UCS was recognized for its ongoing efforts to reduce its ecological footprint while promoting active, healthy lifestyles for children and their families.
 
“We commend the faculty, staff, students, and parents of Urban Community School for their efforts in creating a green learning environment and providing leadership to other schools,” said Maureen Dowling, director for the Office of Non-Public Education in the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Innovation and Improvement, in a statement.
 
“Urban Community School is honored to receive this distinction from the U.S. Department of Education,” added UCS principal Lisa De Core. “Our school is dedicated to reducing our environmental impact while also incorporating green principles into our pedagogy and teaching our students the importance being green.”
 
De Core cited a number of recent initiatives the school has undertaken that demonstrate its commitment to green, sustainable principals and learning, including:
 
·  Setting up timers on computers and lights to power them down
when not in use
 
·  Installing refillable water bottle stations and water fountains
with filters
 
·  Encouraging students to carry reusable water bottles to avoid
disposal of plastic bottles
 
·  Composting food waste in The Early Childhood wing and recycling
waste throughout the campus
 
·  Using recycled ink cartridges and purchasing 100% recycled
paper products.
 
School representatives will travel to Washington, D.C. in July to receive the award.
 

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