YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – At Camp Challenge, youngsters struggling with social anxiety and peer interaction spend four weeks in the summer facing many of their fears.
Having Ed Komara, owner of Komara Outdoors, bring out his reptiles and displays to Camp Challenge has become one of the popular activities at camp, according to Rachel Roberts, who organizes Camp Challenge as a resources specialist with Alta Behavioral Healthcare.
Komara Outdoors, based in Youngstown, is a traveling reptile education program.
About 30 to 50 children participate in Camp Challenge, along with 12 to 15 staff members, and Roberts said Komara and the animals he brings with him keeps them all engaged.
“He gets the teachers involved so that the kids can see the grownups aren’t scared – so you don’t have to be scared,” said Roberts, who held a snake last year for the first time. “A lot of the kids are scared at first … but by the end almost all of them are up there wanting to touch and learn more about them. He’s really good with the kids.”
Similarly, the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley’s Success After Six program, an initiative that provides young students with safe after-school options that include mentors, literacy, math and enrichment activities, has invited Komara Outdoors for a rare opportunity for many children.
Monica McCale, coordinator of the Success After Six program at Prospect Elementary in Girard, said Komara again will soon be presenting a “creepy creatures” program in conjunction with the approaching Halloween season. McCale said that after the program, many of the children – and even the adults – no longer see the reptiles as creepy.
“To most of us, they look creepy or we’re afraid of snakes,” McCale said. “So I think having Mr. Komara come in and teach us more about snakes, and what they’re really like, gets that negative stigma taken away from them.”
McCale said she likes that Komara emphasizes what a big commitment and responsibility taking care of reptiles can be. He explains what happens to animals after someone fails to continue taking care of them.
Komara said although he is a lover of all animals, he loves reptiles the most.
Komara has a wildlife resource management degree from Hocking College in southeastern Ohio. He spent some time working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has worked as a regional aquatic biologist in Florida and at a zoo in Toledo.
After returning to Youngstown with his family, Komara said he was invited to bring his collection of animals to a Canfield elementary school because in the months after the Covid pandemic began, schools were leery of putting students onto buses to take field trips.
He said he realized how impactful his reptiles could be by helping more youngsters feel comfortable in the outdoors.
“So I felt just overwhelming responsibility and obligation, and it just instantly clicked,” Komara said. “I made a decision. I have to do this. I have to do something, especially in my town.”
Komara said for four years he has been investing in new displays and helping people learn about conservation, fishing and hunting, exotic reptiles and responsible pet purchasing and ownership.
From fun birthday parties to educational presentations and even wildlife expos, Komara said he creates programs specially geared toward the intended audience with a goal of exposing them to something new. He brings presentations to parks, libraries, nursing homes and even rehabilitation facilities – anywhere he can change someone’s heart about reptiles.
Holly Hahn, program coordinator at Potential Development, said Komara always goes above and beyond to make sure the program is tailored to students on the autism spectrum. He brings six to eight reptiles to the school and explains each of them to a large group of students. He invites the students to touch and hold the reptiles and ask questions, Hahn said. But then he takes it to the next level.
“After the large group program, he goes to individual classrooms where the students struggle in large group settings. He brings a reptile to each of those classrooms, allowing all of our students to participate in a great learning experience and in an environment that feels safe,” Hahn said.
Komara said he hopes all children and adults get a chance to see the beauty in the animals.
“I think I’ve just been blessed to be where I am, because I love so much what I do,” Komara said. “I know it’s my calling and purpose.”
Pictured at top: Ed Komara poses for a photo in downtown Youngstown.