Make way for ducklings … in the Ulumau Garden

As an advocate and practitioner of natural and regenerative gardening, K-8 Garden Coordinator Lauren Prutow McKenna constantly challenges herself to think about ways her Ulumau Garden curriculum can best honor the land, her students, and our community. Under her guidance, the Village Campus now has an animal husbandry program. In the fall, McKenna and her students incubated, hatched, and raised Silver Appleyard ducks, which are currently listed as threatened livestock animals. McKenna’s new duck habitat was intentionally built surrounding fruit trees that needed a little love — which our feathered friends were happy to provide in the form of guano, an incredible natural fertilizer! The ducks also help with pest management. Above all, the animal husbandry program has furthered students' experience with more layered and meaningful learning opportunities that include how we best care for animals and each other. •

LIAM GRAYSON ’27 CREATES AN ORIGINAL PLAY FROM THE GROUND UP

There may be no better example of the excellence on display in HPA’s capstone program than 8th-grader Liam Grayson’s presentation in April. Grayson wrote, produced, cast, directed, and stagemanaged his own play, Our Oldest Enemy He even managed the setup and logistics, including bus transportation from the Village Campus to Gates Performing Arts Center for teachers and classmates.

Grayson says he wrote Our Oldest Enemy in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “I have seen that many people do not understand how to most effectively protect lives and happiness during an epidemic,” he explains, “largely because of great amounts of misinformation, and a general atmosphere of mistrust. I decided to create this play to show people that we can succeed in these kinds of circumstances if we trust science, trust each other, and work together to help everyone stay safe.” •