INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — One school in the Indianapolis Public Schools district is thinking outside the box, taking education outside.

A principal’s idea to raise chickens is getting the whole school involved.

At first glance, the chicken coop outside William McKinley School 39 looks like it’d be on an Indiana farm.

Fifth grader Uriah Spivey said, “We get their eggs, and then we give them water. Then, we feed them. Then we put them in their coop.”

Nearly two dozen chickens and two ducks are roosting outside the elementary school for prekindergarten up to Grade 5.  Uriah and other fifth graders look after the chickens.

Principal Deana Perry said, “So, when I came here as principal and saw this expansive space that we had, I’m like, ‘Oh, we can do chickens here on a larger scale.’ So, I convinced teachers that it was a good idea, and that took some convincing.”

Teachers nominate fifth graders, referring to them as “chicken tenders.” The principal explained the name: “Because they tend to the chickens, we got a good laugh out of it, and it stuck.”

Students raise the newborns in the classroom and go on to care for them outside. “Oh, yeah, I have first graders who tell me they want to grow up to be ‘chicken tenders,’ meaning get to fifth grade. So, yes, it’s a highly sought after position,” the principal said.

Students and staff are seeing the payoff. Perry said, “Besides learning empathy and responsibility, they’re looking the life cycle. There’s biology, there’s math, we talk about how much food they’re going to need.”

The exploratory school’s latest hands-on project is incorporating learning into day-to-day life. “It really motivates them to be their best self every day,” the principal said.

William McKinley School 39 also has a beekeeper, farms vegetables, and has plans for a pumpkin patch in October. Perry said science, technology, engineering, and mathematics learning proves to be working, with math scores up this year.

About The Author

See author's posts