I know that it bothers you, but I would try not to really worry about what everyone else there thinks. Just focus on your real friends, and ignore everyone else. Alot of people will fear or poke fun of stuff that they really don;t know anything about or anything that is not mainstream, which is really such a shame. It is too bad that in this day and age people can't seem to be a little more openminded about stuff, or take the time to learn a thing or two about something before they run off making all kinds of false assumptions about things.
But really, I wouldn't even worry about them, there are so many other things to be concerned with during senior year. But I do applaud you and your friends for wanting to educate the public about reptiles.