Jefferson Hills Intermediate School CHRISTOPHER VERY , PRINCIPAL est Jefferson Hills
WEST JEFFERSON HILLS SCHOOL DISTRICT NEWS — JEFFERSON HILLS INTERMEDIATE SCHOOL
cKeesport
CITY OF MCKEESPORT NEWS
Hen House in the Hills
In Spring of 2017 , Mrs . Connelly ( formerly Ms . Zang ), a third grade teacher at Jefferson Hills Intermediate School , decided to incubate and hatch chickens in her classroom . She could never have imagined how it would take off . The equipment was a bit old and unreliable , but that year still produced one chick named Buttercup . Everyone in the entire building loved the experience , so with the help of Donors Choose , Mrs . Connelly was able to purchase all new equipment and hasn ’ t looked back since .
The following year in 2018 , the hatch rate increased to five chicks and continued to grow each year . After finding the chicks homes for the first three years , Mrs . Connelly had an idea . She wanted to keep the chickens right on the school property to provide additional learning opportunities for the students . This includes taking care of the chickens , maintaining a healthy coop , and even opening a student-run business . In the Spring of 2020 , Mrs . Connelly was awarded a grant from the WJH Foundation for Education to purchase materials for a chicken coop . She collaborated with the TJHS Technology Department , and they came up with a design for the high school students to build a chicken coop . Unfortunately , soon after the idea came to fruition , so did the COVID-19 pandemic . For the next year , the 2020 chickens lived at Mrs . Connelly ’ s house , but as soon as the high school students were back in school , the project continued .
In March of 2021 , the previous year ’ s chickens were housed just outside the windows of Room 118 at JHIS in their temporary coop . The students even completed a Google Form to officially name the “ Girls ”. We currently have Bella , Angel , Rose , and Henrietta . The students were so excited , and it was clear we were going in the right direction . The daily collection of eggs is a highlight . Right now , we are getting four eggs a day . The students take turns filling up their water and making sure they have food in their feeder . The “ Girls ” even eat out of students ’ hands . Not only do the students find joy in having the hens here with us , but the faculty is also equally excited to make their daily visits and say hello . It is truly a unique and amazing learning experience .
This past school year , the yearly adventure of incubating chicken eggs continued , and it was the best year yet . In a batch of 13 eggs , 12 of them successfully hatched chickens . The students loved the opportunity to “ chick-sit ” and would take turns caring for the babies in their own homes . The students also became quite accustomed to the chicks in the classroom and
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