An eagle’s nest is an unusual sight in an urban area, but there’s a big one now perched at Calvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy.
Only this one was built by students.
About 40 fifth-graders from Calvin Donaldson, on West 37th Street in Alton Park, went to the Tennessee River Gorge to help gather the nest’s materials. The whole school participated in weaving the twigs together to make the seven-foot-wide eagle’s nest, which sits on a platform about 22 feet off the ground.
Students also wrote stories about the nest and eagles, some of which were read Friday at a ceremony to unveil the nest.
Calvin Donaldson is on an expedition to excellence, principal Becky Coleman said at the ceremony. The eagle’s nest is only one step in the inner-city school’s march toward excellence, Ms. Coleman said.
“We’re leading students to be successful in behavior and academics,” she said.
The nest and the celebration ceremony instill pride in students, pushing them to pursue excellence in their studies, Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Jim Scales said.
“We’re building pride, and hopefully that’s going to draw more and more students in this area back to this school,” he said.
At the ceremony, 11-year-old Terrance Taylor read his eagle story.
“Have you ever heard of a hawk beating an eagle?” he began.
He then told a story about a bully eagle from Signal Mountain who took all the smaller birds’ food until he got bored and decided to fly to Lookout Mountain expecting to do the same. But a mother hawk on Lookout had different ideas, biting the eagle when he tried to take food from her chicks. Learning his lesson, the Signal Mountain eagle never bothered smaller birds again.
Fifth-grade science teacher Paul Ruhling applauded as Terrance walked back to he seat.
“Love it. Love it,” Mr. Ruhling said.
At the ceremony, rows of students raised their hands when Rodney Van Valkenburg of Allied Arts asked how many looked forward to coming to school so they could work on the project.
PARTNERSCalvin Donaldson Environmental Science Academy participated with the following agencies to build the eagle’s nest:* Public Art Chattanooga* Allied Arts* Tennessee River Gorge Trust
“Part of the reason we have the arts in school is that we want to learn about the arts and to motivate students to want to come to school,” Mr. Van Valkenburg said.
Chances are an eagle or an osprey will not make a home in Calvin Donaldson’s nest because they prefer places closer to water, said storyteller Jeff Pfitzer, who helped the children with their stories.
But on Friday, he said he saw two mockingbirds land in the nest just after the ceremony.
“It looks like our sculpture is taking on a life of its own,” he said.