ROCTORVILLE — The nine animals that came to Fairland Middle School Wednesday were celebrities of sorts.

They were part of the Columbus Zoo’s traveling exhibit that has been featured on The Late Show with David Letterman several times, most recently last week.

But, Wednesday’s visit to the school was less about entertainment and more about education, are most of the visits that the exhibits makes at churches, schools, organization and parties around the United States, said the zoo’s promotion assistants, Brian Greene and Linda Tobin.

The visit was a culmination of a year-long, annual collaboration between science teacher Jim Roberts and reading teacher Nathan Speed. Each year, sixth-grade students in their classes do in-depth research — projects, Power Point presentations, and reports — on science topics such as animals.

The zoo’s program was funded by money raised through the school’s book fair.

“This really gives the kids the chance to get up close and face-to-face with many of the animals they have been studying,” Speed said. “We try to teach them a lot about the animals, but they really enjoy programs like this.”

Greene and Tobin brought a variety of small animals with them, including a dingo, barn owl, an alligator and — the crowd’s favorite —a penguin. The animals were brought out one by one by Tobin as Greene gave the students details about the species, and habitats, as well other interesting tidbits.

The Columbus duo is part of a group that works with animal expert Jack Hanna, who serves as director emeritus at the zoo. Greene said the traveling show aims at letting the children experience animals that they more than likely have never seen before, much less gotten the opportunity to hold.

Roberts agreed.

“This is a great opportunity for the kids who have not been able to get out of the area to see these kinds of things,” he said. “Some of them have not had any exposure to these types of animals.”

Most of the animals brought to the school were very rare, with a few of them considered a “threatened species,” meaning they are in danger of becoming extinct in the upcoming years.

In addition to showing off the animals, Greene also gave the kids a little advice for the future. He said that they should work hard and try to find a career that they deeply enjoy. Although he and many of his colleagues majored in other fields during college, Greene said they all had two things in common: a love of animals and the desire to work their way up from menial jobs in the zoo, such as cleaning out cages and working in the concession stand.

“Everyday I come to work and I have to pinch myself because I can’t believe I have a job that I love so much,”Greene said.