Middle School Bird Lovers Flock to Help

Have you heard the one about the pigeon and the corn stalks?

 

It all started when aspiring Middle School falconers Julia Stein-De Turck and Saga Leslie noticed an injured pigeon hobbling about the Alley. Being the bird lovers that they are, the students knew they had to take action to nurse the bird back to health. 

 

The seventh-graders named him Gary and, with permission, set up traps baited with corn kernels in an attempt to catch the injured bird, which had string bound to one of its legs. Over time, those corn kernels took root beneath the soil and sprouted volunteer corn plants on the 21st Street Campus. One planter by the Alley side of the Stephen Morgan Middle School Building has four corn stalks and another by the theater has one stalk, each with multiple ears of corn. 

 

Although Julia and Saga were ultimately unable to catch Gary to administer care, their efforts have resulted in a great addition to the campus.

 

“Gary proved too much for their trapping skills,” said Morgan Schwartz, the former Middle School director and newly appointed assistant head of school and dean of faculty. “He’s still around. He comes by when the bell rings. ... I love the fact that they were trying to help a creature.”