Davis students entice birds back to area

Theodore G. Davis Middle School seventh-grade students are trying to attract birds back to their school while completing a Student Service Learning (SSL) project. Working with students from North Point High School, the middle schoolers have developed a plan to build and place birdhouses to entice birds back to the campus that also houses William A. Diggs Elementary School.

Davis students noticed an increase in insects and a decrease in the number of birds, which has been caused by the construction of three schools in the area, the scarcity of trees and the lack of snow last winter. To entice the birds back to the area, the students want to create habitats for the birds through the birdhouse building project.

Working with carpentry students from North Point, birdhouse templates were cut and pre-drilled for easy assembly by the middle school students. The North Point students are serving as mentors and assisting the Davis students with construction.

Once construction is complete, the Davis students plan to present the birdhouses to Diggs Principal Sandra McDuffie, Davis Principal Wendell Martin and North Point Principal Kim Hill. The students hope the principals will commit to placing the houses around the educational campus.

Davis students are incorporating the houses into an on-going research project and plan to monitor the house sites and collect data. The data will be logged on the school's web site and allow students to study the affects of the birds on the environment as well as the success the placement of houses has on creating a habitat for birds.

Service-learning education links academic learning with student service that benefits the community. Service-learning includes academic preparation, service activities and structured reflection. Students study the community, identify problems, propose solutions, implement the solution and reflect the impact of the service.

Pictured above are North Point High School Principal Kim Hill, left, and Theodore G. Davis Middle School Principal Wendell Martin, right, as they observe the student construction of birdhouses. The birdhouses will be used to entice birds back to the educational complex that contains North Point High School, Theodore G. Davis Middle School and William A. Diggs Elementary School.