Bluebird project makes learning science take flight

Kaden Helsel, 12, sets his group's bluebird house on its post Thursday at South Callaway Middle School as his sixth-grade classmates assist.
Kaden Helsel, 12, sets his group's bluebird house on its post Thursday at South Callaway Middle School as his sixth-grade classmates assist.

Sixth-grade science students at South Callaway Middle School are learning what real "tweeting" is about.

A new hands-on student project that involves building bluebird houses could mean the state bird may soon be flocking to South Callaway. With help from a Missouri Bluebird Society grant, all four sixth grade classes at SCMS have been building and setting up birdhouses around the school.

Eddie Mulholland, sixth-grade science and math teacher, said the bluebird project teaches students how to do research - to document, observe and see results - in a fun way.

"Sometimes they don't even know they're learning, and they're loving it," Mulholland said.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.