Middle school students in the district’s EXCEL program recently thrilled to a virtual reptile roundup courtesy of Erik Callender, the founder of Erik’s Reptile Edventures. Callender founded the educational service in 2006, initially by bringing live animals into classrooms, but switched to online presentations in 2017. As part of EXCEL’s ongoing “Inventing Self” series, Callender gave the excited students an in-depth look at his collection of rare and unusual reptiles, including alligators and pythons, and discussed their care, feeding and behaviors.