Concord High student corners the duck-selling market in quest for rare disorder’s cure

When it comes to selling rubber ducks, Concord High School junior Sydney Goodnow lets her cart do the talking.

For Goodnow, who is nonverbal, the approach is working.

“Sometimes people wouldn’t stop and give her the time of the day,” said Goodnow’s teacher, Kari Zwick. “But she’ll wave them over and point at the ducks, and it’s kind of magic.”

Last week, Zwick’s special education class launched its second annual fundraiser for the International Rett Syndrome Foundation, an organization that funds research on a rare genetic disorder that affects one of Goodnow’s classmates, sophomore Izzie Boom.

The fundraiser serves three purposes: proceeds from each duck, which sell for $1, go to the foundation; the sales form the basis of math activities in Zwick’s class; and the fundraiser connects students and staff across the school in a unifying activity.

Goodnow is the class’s top salesperson and its CEO. Every day, she spends about 30 minutes pushing a triple-decker, teal-colored cart full of purple rubber ducks around the halls of Concord High.

“She absolutely loves connecting with people and making friends and the social part of school,” Zwick said. “She found what she loves and what allows her to connect with everyone in the whole school by pushing this cart with ducks.”

Back in her classroom after sales sprees, Goodnow and her classmates track their progress. The fundraiser allows students of different abilities to all participate.

“Some people are learning to count to three, some people are learning to count to 100, but everyone can count the duck money,” Zwick said. “It’s $1.”

Last year, the class sold 305 ducks in its fundraiser. This year, the goal is 500. The fundraiser will run through the end of March.

The class also sells ducks separately throughout the year to fund class trips.

Rett is a neurological and developmental disorder that affects brain development and leads to the progressive loss of motor skills and language, according to the Mayo Clinic. It affects roughly 9,000 people in the U.S., most of whom are girls, according to the International Rett Syndrome Foundation.

Boom was diagnosed with Rett Syndrome at the age of two, according to her mother, Michelle, who spoke with the Concord Monitor about her daughter last year.

Because the disorder is so rare, most students have never heard about it before they interact with Goodnow, Boom and their classmates through the fundraiser, Zwick said.

“They’re hoping that by selling ducks, we can bring together people with differences and have community that is supportive kind and inclusive,” Zwick said. “The students, the parents — everyone’s just finding a lot of joy in the ducks.”

Want to buy a duck? Email Kari Zwick at kzwick@sau8.org.

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