Mr. Libert's Duck Economics

They are all around the middle school. In lockers, dropped on the floor, and even in a windowsill collection in Ms. Ferguson’s office. Within the past few years, these small plastic ducks have become one of the most coveted items among students. Why? These ducks have become a currency, run by Mr. Tyler Libert, that spreads fun and happiness throughout the middle school.

The system is simple: Mr. Libert gives students ducks, which they can then exchange for candy (as well as Taba squishies, Pokemon cards, and other things). Mr. Libert admits that he spends a significant amount of money to keep the system working. “I definitely invest my own money into it. But that's because I enjoy spreading joy and happiness where I can,” Mr. Libert says.

Mr. Libert started handing out ducks last school year, his first year at Blake. He originally got the idea from a method of debugging code called rubber ducking, where coders explain each line of their code to a rubber duck. “And then it just grew from there.” He now hands out thousands of ducks a year.

In a survey with 125 responses, 98.5% of students had received a duck, and many had hundreds of ducks in their collections. 6th grader Hank Whinnery writes, “I LOVE THEM!!!!!! THEY ARE SO FUN!!!!” Many other students report that ducks motivate students, while also teaching them about currency and responsibility. However, many other students, such as 7th grader Lyla Cuirle, say, “I don't like how people will take up the entire hallway just to get one.”

Last year, Mr. Libert introduced seasonal ducks as a way to further his goal of spreading fun and “show[ing] people recognition, like, ‘hey, you're here, you're at school, you're trying, and that's all really hard to do,’” as Mr. Libert explains.

“At the end of the day, I'm just happy that it's brought people as much joy as it has. I wish it wouldn't bring about as much chaos as it does, but that's kind of part of middle school.”