Since the beginning of Clearcreek Elementary’s Sensory Garden, which opened in 2018, the PreK – 1st Grade school has had an annual visitor to the property. A hen has made Clearcreek Elementary’s Sensory Garden home for six (6) years, using the outdoor garden space to build nests and lay her eggs.
“This mom trusts our space to safely build a nest and lay her eggs,” said Sarah Wilguess, Occupational Therapist with Springboro Schools and one of the lead project organizers for the Sensory Garden since its inception. “The Sensory Garden is free of predators, and I think she enjoys the soothing sounds of the windchimes to help keep her babies calm at night.”
This year, the staff at Clearcreek tried something new. The mother duck and her 10+ ducklings were walked out of the school building, through the hallways, to relocate to their new home behind Clearcreek Elementary, which is a wooded space. Students lined the halls to watch, as this duck family walked through the school, and outside to their new home. “The mother duck had to have a gentle reminder to keep an inside voice when walking down the hallway and the ducklings are still working on maintaining their single line,” joked Ms. Wilguess.
While families are set to be notified next week about preschool lottery applications, there’s no word yet on if these new ducklings’ applications were accepted.
The Sensory Garden’s primary purpose at Clearcreek Elementary is to serve as a self-contained garden environment that allows both students and staff to enjoy a wide variety of sensory experiences, helping to stimulate everyone’s senses.