Make Way for Ducklings... and Young Gardeners
What
began as an effort to make two duck families feel more at home in a
school courtyard has become a significant gardening project for
students at Wilshire Park Elementary School in St. Anthony Park,
Minnesota.
It all started when the duck families made their home in the courtyard early in the spring of 2007. Parents Bob and Lona Doolan were inspired to use this as a teaching moment for their daughter and other students at the school to learn more about duck habitat.
Along the way, they realized that this would also be the perfect area for teaching stations that would tie in with the school’s science curriculum, and plans were formulated for areas to demonstrate seeds, water conservation and geology. Hennepin County Master Gardener Larry Cipolla was enlisted to help, and work was started that summer and fall.
It continued this spring after a slight delay caused by cool weather and the return of the duck families. Once the ducklings were hatched and ready to move to the water, one family marched right down the hall and out the school door, while the other needed help from their human friends.
As soon as the ducklings and their parents were safely back in
their natural habitat, Larry returned to redirect the students’
interest in the ducks into enthusiasm for gardening. Larry designed
several gardens for the courtyard and, with the help of Bob and Lona,
built paths, as well as raised beds and trellises needed for an herb
garden, two rain gardens, a pizza garden and a shade garden.
While Bob and Lona say the project couldn’t have proceeded without Larry’s help (“He gave shape and direction to our vision”, said Lona), Larry credits the Doolans with endless energy and dedication. Most of the labor was provided by them, and Bob was instrumental in obtaining funding for a weather station. Many of the plants came from the Doolans’ yard, as well as from those of several Master Gardeners.
