peep at the coop tour

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About a year ago we were fortunate to have a chicken coop donated to Stonewall Gardens.  For over 25 years Mr. Pittillo, an interpreter for the deaf at our school, has led the way for hatching chickens in the classroom for the lower grades to help students comprehend a life cycle.

The hatching of chickens has allowed the students to document through journals:

-counting down the days until hatching (graphing/math)

-measurement of each egg (inches/cm/circumference)

-comparison of eggs (fresh vs. store bought)

-voting on the names of each chick (democracy/social studies)

-research of chicken history (species/geography)

-and reproduction discussions (science).

It was part of the plan, after the donation of the coop was completed, that the garden/coop would become the headquarters for the annual East Dallas coop tours.  The first year (2010) was highly successful, but this year's (2011) tour reached beyond the anticipated expectations.  It was documented that more than 2,000 people attended and over $10,000 was raised to help the school/community to support Stonewall Gardens, a program that was cut due to budget cuts.  Our parents, students, and staff came out to host this annual event.

Students sold recently harvested onions.

Students gave tours and explained the details of operation.

Parents, students, and teachers sold raffle tickets.

Attendance was outstanding and we made many new friends and created new support for our garden.