Jay Middle School students showed elementary students how to make

bird feeders.
By Donna M. Perry
Staff Writer

JAY – Sixth-graders gave younger students lessons in economics, birds and helping less fortunate schoolchildren.

First-graders at the elementary school have been studying birds. They made edible birds next and had a Wednesday visit planned with Dave Karkos, who was to present a slide show on birds.

The older students have been studying economics. Additionally, the middle school civil rights team is raising money to buy pencils for schoolchildren at Somerville elementary school.

With a little ingenuity, a plan was hatched.

Sixth-graders made citrus bird feeders from orange peels with the intent to sell them to first-graders for 50 cents. The profit would be used to buy the pencils.

The two groups met Tuesday for the exchange.

The older children towered over the younger ones who were sitting at their desks.

Not a peep was heard as younger ones stared at Anne Harvell, a sixth-grader, as she took a seat.

Brianna Ainsley stood behind Harvell and explained to first-graders what Harvell was doing.

Harvell made a feeder out of half an orange peel and some sort of thick laces.

The fruit itself had been devoured earlier.

By the time they were done, the feeder was ready to hang.

Sixth-graders handed each of the children a small paper bag with paper birds stapled to them.

Inside the bags were the bird feeders and seeds.

Teacher Terry Leclerc handed over the money collected. Parents had been alerted early on about the 50-cent cost.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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