As the bird flu drove up egg prices, Merrimack Valley High School senior Olivia Barto wondered whether raising chickens at home could save her family money.

Earlier in the year, Barto began raising eight chicks – one of whom happened to be a rooster – and tracked their egg production against grocery store prices.

The experiment, which Barto presented during Merrimack Valley High School’s senior project night on Thursday, proved a resounding success. The birds produced over 400 eggs over the course of the year, saving Barto roughly $200.

It did come with some challenges, though.

“At first, the bigger chickens weren’t getting along with the smaller ones,” Barto said. “But in the end, they banded together and became a flock.”

Barto also had to contend with her family dog, who developed a habit of letting the chickens out in the middle of the night.

“We would wake up and there would be chicken poop everywhere!” Barto said.

Barto, who hopes to go into the medical field, also had to navigate the birds getting mites. No bird flu got to the flock though.

Barto’s project was one of more than 150 on display at the high school last week. A long-time Merrimack Valley graduation requirement, students must spend 30 hours on a topic of their choice. Projects ranged from a job shadow in school counseling to refurbishing a bass fishing boat.

Check out some projects that caught our eye:

Kinoa Witt

Witt programmed a multi-player virtual reality shooter game. Released on the Meta store, the game has already been played by more than 3,000 people.

The Penacook resident, whose identical twin brother is also a technical whiz, has been programming his whole life, but only started working in game development two years ago.

He will study computer science at the University of New Hampshire next year before hopefully becoming a programmer for the Department of Defense.

Hannah Walden

Walden spent her 30 hours shadowing an ultrasound cardiac technician at Concord Hospital.

The Loudon resident, who comes from a family of nurses, was inspired to pursue healthcare by her mother, in particular.

“She’s the reason I got into the field of medicine and the reason I started to look at what the heart does,” Walden said.

The experience working with the technician ultimately led her to decide she wanted to become a nurse like her mother.

“I didn’t like how predictable and consistent the cases were,” Walden said. “I want to branch out into nursing and use my problem-solving skills for more things.”

Walden will study nursing at Colby-Sawyer College next year.

Alexander Dudek

Dudek led the creation of the stage set for the high school’s fall play. The project was a particular challenge because the play was actually 30 separate two-minute plays wrapped in one.

“Instead of a set that could be altered, we built a set that could work for everything,” he said.

Dudek, who has been working on the technical side of theater productions since his freshman year, hopes to ultimately work in “live sound,” such as in the music or broadcasting industries. He will study audio engineering at Husson University next year.

Samuel Lloyd

Lloyd’s project also involved building something: a brick path from the driveway to the shed at his home in Loudon.

Lloyd admitted he procrastinated, not starting until two weeks before the project night, but he got the path done.

“It was a lot harder than I expected it to be because every time you dig, you find a rock,” said Lloyd, who brought the biggest rock he found – a 45-pounder – to school.

Lloyd will study safety or occupational health at Keene State College next year.

Grace Corliss

Corliss returned to her roots at Loudon Elementary School to shadow a guidance counselor there.

She worked with a group of fifth graders who were learning how to become “mediators” at the school and with a group of kindergartners and first graders who were working on social skills.

Corliss, who plans to study psychology at the University of New Hampshire next year, discovered that while she liked working with the students, the setting wasn’t quite the right fit for her professionally.

“I want to work with kids, but I’ve learned I want to work in more of a clinical setting than an educational setting,” she said.
 

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.