River View teacher wins national contest, meets viral baby hippo Mars in Kansas

River View Intermediate School third grade teacher Ryan Miller and his wife Paige were the winners of a nationwide contest that gave them the chance to take a trip to Kansas.

“The Tanganyika Wildlife Park had a contest that asked contestants to submit a video to have a chance to meet their viral baby pygmy hippo named Mars and be in a documentary that was highlighting him and experiences at the park,” Ryan Miller said. “(Paige) created an incredible video that all of the workers were still talking about while we were there.”

Paige Miller said they started following the Tanganyika Facebook page after seeing a viral video of their baby hippo Mars.

“I joined the park’s email list after reading they had hippo family meet and greets,” she said. “I saw I had an email from them late one night that stated they were doing a documentary on Mars and were seeking Mars’ biggest fan to fly to the park and participate. You could enter your info and attach a video as a bonus.”

Paige Miller had three days to complete the video.

“I knew I wanted to do something quirky and special — matching the humor and unique marketing the park has,” she said. “I made a silly video under the guise that I was a Space Station worker desperately trying to get to Mars, complete with a green screen and parody of David Bowie’s ‘Space Odyssey’ with the words dubbed to say ‘Ground Control to Major Mars.’”

Paige Miller received an email later in the week requesting a video call and informing her she was a finalist.

“When I got on the call with LynnLee Schmidt (the COO of the park), she asked a few questions about how I found them, my favorite video, and then asked how it felt knowing I would be flying to Kansas to meet the viral hippo himself,” Paige Miller said. “I was in shock and incredibly excited to tell Ryan about this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

The Millers went to Tanganyika Wildlife Park in Goddard, Kansas, just outside of Wichita, and were there Oct. 26-29. They participated in a penguin meet and greet, an otter meet and greet, a red roughed lemur training, were able to pet and feed giraffes and rhinos, and got to meet Mars and his hippo family, Posie his mom and Pluto his dad. They were able to feed Posie, and she painted a picture for them with her nose. They swam with penguins and were part of the documentary for the park.

“The unique thing about Tanganyika is that it’s not your typical zoo,” Paige Miller said. “It’s an experience destination where you get to not only see but interact with some of the world's most amazing (rare and/or endangered) species. Their founder created the park to connect families with these amazing animals, provide education that leads to advocacy for them, and ultimately to protect them and ensure they exist for generations to come.”

The other contestant who won the trip was a 75-year-old woman who has been obsessed with hippos for 60 years, collecting more than 600 of them.

“It was an honor to spend our time with her and her family who drove from Oregon,” Paige Miller said.

Ryan Miller even found a way to share the experience with his students.

“Ever since Paige started following Mars, I have brought him into the classroom,” he said. “There is a daily livestream that we would check in and see how he was doing and if he was up to any mischief. It tied in perfectly with our science curriculum that we were doing at the time. We are learning about life cycles and animal traits and habitats. We were able to look up different things about the hippos and discuss them as a group.”

Before the Millers went on the trip, each student from Ryan Miller’s morning class and afternoon group wrote Mars a note along with a picture.

“We took them with us and gave them to him,” Ryan Miller said. “My classes were excited to look at all the pictures and talk about the different animals and things that we got to do. The staff was beyond generous to us and gave us a trip that we will talk about forever.”

Paige Miller was glad Ryan was able to share the experience with his students.

“Ryan’s students getting excited and learning about Mars was one of the absolute highlights of this entire experience,” she said. “The students not only loved watching Mars on the park’s live cam, but they also asked thoughtful questions, like why baby pygmy hippos can only share a space with their moms. Their curiosity opened the door to a deeper conversation about conservation and the reality that fewer than 2,000 pygmy hippos remain in the world today, largely due to habitat loss from deforestation.

"These experiences build early connections to animals and the natural world. When kids feel connected, they have space to care. That’s where empathy and humility are born — in learning to value something simply because it exists in this world we share, not because it gives us anything in return.”