Three first-grade classes at North Creek Elementary School arrived back from spring break Monday to find that there were cartons of 18 different colored eggs in their classrooms.
When three students in Karen Glover’s class were asked what they thought the class might do with the eggs, which ranged in color from white to brown to blue, their answers ranged from “color them” to “break them open” to “have an egg toss.”
Nope, the eggs, courtesy of Linda Reilly‘s Clear Creek Farms in Lyndon Township, will spend about 21 days in an incubator and hopefully, most of them will hatch.
Reilly said each egg carton contained “a variety pack.” There were White crested Polish, Silver-laced Polish, Barnavelders, French Copper Morans, lavender and black Americanas. The latter were the blue eggs.
When asked how many total eggs the students thought would hatch, the guesses ranged from all of them to 14 of them. And in about three weeks, everyone will find out how close the guesses were to the actual chick total.
“Annually, this is one of the favorite events for the first-graders,” said North Creek Principal Marcus Kaemming.
He said that although this is a farming area, over time, some people have lost that connection and that by bringing the eggs into the classrooms, it provides a connection between local working farms and the community.
He said the students enjoy the whole process from candling the eggs in the dark to see if a chick is growing inside to the actual birth of the chicks as they peck their way out of the egg shells.
“The animal unit is always in the last trimester,” Glover said. “Also, the eggs are more likely to be fertile in the spring.”
This year, there are three classrooms participating — Glover’s, Jennifer Tracht’s and Lydia Weid’s; last year there were two.
Reilly said this is her fourth year supplying the classrooms with eggs, and she is also supplying eggs to two additional schools in the area.
When asked, only one of the three students had seen a chick hatch — so this will be a first for a number of these students.
So, stay tuned. We’ll follow this egg adventure in a few weeks and update you when the chicks are born.
