Saskatoon students raise ducks for memorial gardens

After weeks of care from students in Saskatoon, a family of ducks is finally home.

Hillcrest Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home has worked with city schools for the last 16 years to have ducklings looked after by students.

“(The ducks) are part of the funeral home and the memorial gardens. They stay in the pond all summer. They’re domestic ducks, so they don’t go anywhere,” said funeral director Jamie Rugg.

“People come out to visit. (The ducks) sit and frolic around – they’re tame now because they’ve been with kids.”

This year, ten schools were each entrusted with a pair of ducklings.

On Wednesday, those kids and teachers lined up around the pond at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens to watch the now-grown ducks launch into the water.

As each pair was introduced, the crowd cheered and watched the ducks huddle close to one another.

“It was adorable when I saw how they all grouped together because they know they’re sisters and brothers,” said Katie, a Grade 5 student at Georges Vanier School.

“It was kind of sad parting with them.”

The ducks have arrived! Each pair was raised by a different school in the city. Now the entire family is together. #yxe pic.twitter.com/8TQL1eDgtV

— Daniella Ponticelli (@Ms_dponticelli) June 6, 2018

She the most memorable part of caring for the ducks was cuddling them at recess – and cleaning up their poop.

Katie’s teacher, Rod Figueroa, has taken part in the program the last three years.

“All the wonderful things that parents want their children to learn – empathy, responsibility, communication – that’s what this whole program is all about,” he said.

Figueroa noted some of his students don’t have pets, so the ducks offered them a chance to care for an animal.

“Their responsibilities are to pick up the poop, make sure there’s enough water, enough food,” he said.

“Last week, the ducks started to turn into teenagers, so they were ugly, they were lanky and smelly – but the kids were troopers.”

Started from a duckling now we’re here: These ducks are waiting in a row to be released in a pond at Hillcrest Funeral Home in #yxe. Every year, Hillcrest entrusts its ducklings to several schools where students help them grow and then come to watch the release #bestday pic.twitter.com/dBooUsETJF

— Daniella Ponticelli (@Ms_dponticelli) June 6, 2018

Mia, another of Figueroa’s students, said her favourite part was getting to see the ducklings grow.

“Picking them up and how different it got the bigger they grew,” she said.

“You never look at ducks the same way again.”

The ducks will now stay at the pond at Hillcrest Memorial Gardens and Funeral Home, where visitors can stop by and feed them throughout the summer.