Eyes peer out of the windows looking into Sterling Elementary School’s courtyard. Chatter fills the hallways as the tiny feet of students come to a halt to behold the great gift of life - duck life that is.

For the past couple of years, Sterling Elementary has received yearly visits from ducks. But, it wasn’t until this year that eggs were laid and 10 ducklings hatched in their courtyard.

“We’re not getting much work done…” Principal Teri Finn admits. Students can’t pass the windows of the courtyard without stopping and all the duck books in the library have been checked out, she adds.
“It’s been a wonderful learning opportunity for the kids,” she said.

First grade teacher Katherine Hayden has taken charge of the duck initiative. Students, known as the Green Team, had previously cleaned up the courtyard. They then built a garden and cleaned up the area to make it an outdoor space. The mom duck is even nibbling on their planted strawberries.

“It’s contributing to our green initiative,” Hayden said about having the ducks now part of the school.

The duck first arrived with her mate around April, Hayden said. Faculty first noticed the eggs a couple of weeks ago.

The ducklings hatched last weekend, to add a great surprise to the students come the morning of May 7.

According to Hayden, the students are really taking the ball and rolling with this great opportunity. They notice the mother duck’s flight and how she’s teaching her ducklings how to dive. They also mentioned since the ducks have now made their courtyard their new home, they will most likely return yearly.

But, when the mother duck flies away, the students get extremely worried, Finn and Hayden say.

“She sometimes flies away and the kids get really distraught,” Finn said. “But, we tell them if you had ten kids, you’d need a break too.”