High school students build duck houses to increase the wood duck habitat
By Tracy Ouellette
SLN Staff
There is a group of students at East Troy High School who are working to provide housing in the area – for wood ducks.
“In my wildlife management class, there are a group of kids who build 12 to 20 wood duck houses each spring,” Agricultural Educator and FFA Advisor Ryan Holle said. “We try to increase the quality of the wood duck habitat in support of local wildlife management.”
Holle said the students work with Steve Rostkowski, of East Troy, who is the president of the East Troy Lake Association.
“We’ve been putting these houses together for years,” Rostkowski said. “Each year, we donate one to raffle off at the Fox River Summit for the Fox River Watershed.”
This year, the duck nest was won by New Berlin Eisenhower High School student Emma Maring, who is an Ecology Club member at her school.
Holle said the students in his wildlife management class work on projects all year long to improve.
“They love it,” he said. “The just love being outdoors and being stewards of the land. I’ve got 24 kids in the class and I’m so proud of them for making the effort to improve out wildlife and the outdoors. It’s really hard work, but it makes a difference and these kids never hesitate to get their hands dirty. In a world of high tech, finding kids who want to do this is special.”
This year there are three students – Max Oldenburg, Tristan Tuhy and Michael Gorman – who work with Rostkowski in an independent study.
“They do pretty much local lake and pond management,” Holle said. “They’ve worked on carp removal and cleared all kinds of paths in the area. They work mainly in the East Troy Lake and Mill Pond area.”
Holle said the three students put in an hour a day with Rostkowski, Monday through Friday.”
“He’s the adult leader for the independent study and we’re lucky to have him. The kids just love him so it works out great,” Holle said.
The other students of the wildlife management class include: Caitlynn Billings, Chase Coleman, Reed Condon, Madison Couture, Kelcye DeMara, Ramiz Fejza, Kaitlyn Fredrick, Samuel Goral, Kayla Grzenia, Jessica Gulig, Melissa Healey, Jazmine Hudson, Tanner Kent, Amanda Mangless, Lawrence Mitchell, Kaitlyn O’Connell, Olivia Osmann, Ana Schottlaender, Ashley Weber, Emily Willert, Abby Heffner, Kaitlyn Jones, Maria Kulick, Maria Longstreet and Hope Schneider.
The class has several duck nests available for purchase at a cost of $20 each. For more information on obtaining a nest, call Holle at (262) 642-6760, ext. 5275.
