Stranger Chickens

By Jacob Blackman, AC 9th year

As I looked into Yeti’s beady little eyes, I thought to myself, “It sure is strange that our school has chickens.” But, at my school, St. Catherine’s Montessori, the strange is sometimes normal. The chickens serve two very important roles in our community. First and foremost the chickens teach us responsibility. After all, the chickens can't feed themselves! We all have to come together and contribute to the health and well-being of our chickens. We are all held accountable for making sure that the chickens are doing well every day. Tesch our chicken manager had this to say about her favorite aspect of chicken care, “I love teaching younger children about our flock.” 

Last year I led the class in creating a 50-foot-long ditch that let us install an automatic watering system for our chickens. It wasn't easy, especially with Houston’s "great" soil, but we came together and got it done.

The chickens provide us with farm fresh eggs, which we sell at our very own Adolescent Community Homegrown Market! We sell eggs from our chickens, honey from our bees, handmade soap and so much more! But shameless plugs for our business aside, this year more than any other, I have seen a lot of interest in the care of our chickens. The chickens are super cool, and I know we're all very egg-cited to see what this school year will bring.