[Columbia, SC] - Ben Mossman, an eighth-grade student at Oak Brook Middle School in Ladson, South Carolina will most certainly get an A on the investigative portfolio that language arts teacher Sandy Burt assigned her students.

"Ben called Riverbanks about a month ago and was incredibly professional on the phone. He explained that each student in his eighth-grade class was assigned the job of developing an investigative portfolio and that when given their choice of subjects, he'd chosen to investigate what it took to run a zoo," said Satch Krantz, executive director of Riverbanks Zoo and Garden. "He had a very humble request - he wanted the opportunity to interview me for a half hour. We thought we could do a lot better than that."

After an almost 30-year run as executive director at Riverbanks Zoo and Garden (an institution that's only been around two years longer than Krantz has been running it), Krantz felt like a half-hour interview wouldn't even scratch the surface on answering the eighth-grader's question. What he needed, Krantz decided, was to walk in an executive director's shoes.

On November 14, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Columbia's premier family attraction will have a 13-year-old at its helm. Krantz will be moving out of his office, albeit for only a day, to make room for the Charleston-area student.

"Ben's going to be taking phone calls, answering e-mails, attending meetings, making decisions and getting a behind the scenes look at what it takes to run a zoo," Krantz said.

Riverbanks staff have been busy laying out a full-day for the Zoo's new executive director. Krantz said, "We've tried to give Ben a good feel for the job. He'll get to make some important leadership decisions - decisions that have impact around the Zoo, and he'll work with lots of staff who will help paint a picture of what it takes to build and maintain an award-winning zoo."

[DOWNLOAD* BEN'S EXECUTIVE SCHEDULE] (*requires Adobe Reader)