April 9- Students and teachers from the Vacaville school showed compassion when encountering a bird’s nest filled with abandoned eggs.
To ensure the safety of the nest from cars and pedestrians, they immediately surrounded it with traffic cones. Unfortunately, predators managed to snatch some of the eggs while leaving others behind within a day. Without hesitation, the students rescued the two remaining eggs, and with help from Principal Nancy Matthews, and teacher’s aide Danielle Porep-Hoath, a plan was hatched.
Finding a perfect teaching moment, Matthews and Porep-Hoath started to learn more about egg care and laughingly remarked, “We relied heavily on ‘Dr. Google’, and from there, we winged it!”
The students were taught about bird incubation and how the feathered parents keep eggs warm. Older students were assigned to rotate the eggs throughout the day using an artificial incubator purchased for the rescue. They also learned how backlighting an egg could reveal intricate internal structures and the growing bird within.
Finally, the day arrived, and everyone in the school was overjoyed to witness the arrival of two adorable goslings.
Matthews stated, “This experience created homework assignments and observation skills beyond count. We even learned that Canadian geese are very receptive to fostering chicks that aren’t their own.” Porep-Hoathnoted, “We found several nests within the Putah Creek area and placed the goslings in a likely home. A mother goose quickly accepted the newcomers, and off they floated into the water. We expect a long life for our birds!”
Featured in Northern Lights, May 18, 2023
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