All jokes aside, they really came up with a bird-brained solution.

Using both birds and brains, Sterling High School students and local conservationists teamed together to build safe nesting boxes for bird species in the area.

Joel Penne, Technical Math teacher at Sterling High School, was approached by Jim Duis and Dave Harrison of Harrison Natural Resource Management, to build 18 wooden boxes for wood ducks and bluebirds. The two species are susceptible to predators due to the loss of their natural habitat, specifically tree cavities.

“We received an $1,100 grant from Whiteside County Soil and Water to build 12 wood duck and six bluebird boxes,” said Harrison, owner of Harrison Natural Resource Management.

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Sterling High School student Christian Cardott displays a wood duck house on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025, built in his Technical Math class at SHS. The class was asked to build the houses for a local conservation group. The slots carved inside the box are footholds for the ducklings to climb out. (Alex T. Paschal)

All the boxes will be set up on the private lands of six or seven landowners.

The birds will get nests, the conservationists get help and the students get to apply math applications to real-world solutions. Following a design by waterfowl conservationist Frank Bellrose, the nests will provide a place for the birds to lay eggs and be safe from weather and predators.

“If it wasn’t for Bellrose, the wood duck might very well be extinct, or at least threatened,” said Harrison.

Bluebirds are no longer threatened and have been recovering due to conservation efforts. The loss of dead trees and wooden posts, competition from invasive species and pesticide use have all impacted the bluebird’s survival.

Wood duck population in the 1800s declined sharply due to loss of habitat and over hunting. But the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the installation of nest boxes have helped the waterfowl recover well.