Cheep, cheep, cheep. Pause. Cheep. Cheep, cheep, cheep. Pause. Cheep, cheep. Pause. Cheep cheep.

My son's class, a combined third and fourth grades under the direction of Stephanie Groom at Douglas County's Renaissance Elementary School, began incubating chicken eggs three weeks ago in an incubator provided by the Colorado State University Cooperative Extension Office here in Douglas County. The students have been studying embryology, making use of materials also provided by the Cooperative Extension Office.

The wait for the chicks has been almost unbearable.

Mary Baldwin, our Cooperative Extension Office representative, has been the chick doctor, of sorts. She oversaw the installation of the incubator and placement of the eggs, which she also provided. She has visited the classroom regularly to check the progress of the developing embryos and to share information with the students. What Mary and the Cooperative Extension Office do for students in our schools is nothing short of magical.

The three weeks waiting for the eggs to hatch seemed endless.

Stephanie Groom, the teacher, has added all sorts of enhancements to the study of developing chicks. She, the students, the school staff and volunteers have all become so swept up in baby chick frenzy it's hard to say who is most excited.

The waiting. Man, it's been hard.

I was in the classroom Wednesday of this week, snooping around, as usual, peeking at the eggs, because Wednesday was the day the first hatching was scheduled to begin. It was just before school was to start, so I was alone with the substitute teacher taking Ms. Stephanie's place for the day.

Well, not alone, exactly. As the sub and I were chatting quietly about the impending births, we heard a tiny, faint crunching/cracking sound. We snapped our heads toward the incubator and gasped. A tiny beak had poked through.

The students began to file into the classroom. In groups of three they were allowed to watch the miracle of chick hatching. These boys and girls were beside themselves with emotion. They've invested so much in the process. Within two hours, I was told, out popped the first chick, a tiny reddish thing with wobbly legs.

My husband, Kevin, and I had the job of building the brooder, which is a cage with a warming bulb into which baby chicks are transferred twenty-four hours after hatching.

Yesterday we transferred the lone chick into the brooder. Ms. Stephanie kissed its head as she lifted it out of the incubator. The chick seems to have adjusted well to the brooder. It is eating, drinking, running around, cheeping up a storm and listening to stories the students read as they sit beside the brooder.

Now, two days later, another tiny beak has broken through. As I write, perhaps a second chick is making its way out of its cozy casing into the world. I marvel that Ms. Stephanie can get any teaching done at all.

Mary Baldwin already has a home for the chicks. I am guessing we won't have a dry eye in the classroom on the day the chicks leave. I don't think I'm out of line to say they are dearly loved by all who have come to know them, particularly the children.

To learn more about Mary Baldwin's programs through the Cooperative Extension Office, call 720-733-6940,or visit their web site at:

www.coopext.colostate.edu/douglas/index_files/contact.htm