Classrooms keep watch over baby chicks

Anthony Dockter has been waiting for the eggs to hatch for almost a month. When he saw the baby chicks hopping around in their cage in his classroom at R.M. James Elementary Monday he said he was about to jump off the walls with joy.

Benna Sayyed: Clovis Media Inc.

Ezzy Martinez, a second grader at R.M. James Elementary, admires a baby chick on Monday. Martinez's class is completing a project that teaches responsibility by nurturing baby chicks.

According to Dockter's second grade teacher, Debbie Vinson, her students are learning to be responsible by participating in a project that allows them to nurture more than a dozen baby chicks from egg until birth. Vinson said the project shows students a chick's 21 days of development.

After the eggs are brought to the classroom from a local hatchery, students partner in groups of two and take turns turning the eggs three times a day like the mother hen.

"A lot of the kids don't have a chance to live out in the country on a farm," Vinson said. "They see eggs in the store but they don't really see the process from the egg to the chick."

Dockter said the hands-on project has taught students at R.M. James Elementary to fulfill life duties and responsibilities for more than 10 years. The project involves six second-grade classes at R.M. James Elementary and lasts almost a month. Each class has an incubator full of eggs which they tend to.

"I like seeing the baby chicks jumping on heads and jumping like they're flying; that is cute," Dockter said. "It lets my teacher know that we can handle animals and be responsible." Dockter said he enjoys the project because he likes animals and is interested in zoology.

Benna Sayyed: Clovis Media Inc.

Second graders Wyatt Woodburn, left, Anthony Dockter, middle, and Kambri Brooks observe baby chicks that hatched Sunday. Students will get to play with the chicks on the classroom floor starting Wednesday.

According to Vinson, the eggs started to hatch Sunday night. Students will get to interact with the chicks on the classroom floor starting Wednesday.

On Friday the chicks will be transported to a new home on a farm or to a household that can provide love and care for them. Vinson said she hopes the learning experience will help students realize they can pick up science skills and put them to use and possibly pursue a career in science.

Second grader Kambri Brooks said her favorite part of the project is holding the chicks.

"I like it because chicks are cute, and they're soft, and they're fluffy," Brooks said.