A garden of fresh produce and coop with chickens are helping students at Morgan Park Academy learn the importance of the environment and sustainability as part of their curriculum.
But the flock of birds was the main attraction for young campers and teens who recently came to see them. Some of the teens are, or were, members of the school’s Business Professionals of America organization, and were thinking of names for the hens and rooster as they picked up some of the tamer ones and stroked them in their arms.
“I love all animals and doing something to help out with animals and chickens,” said Ava Malzone, a recent alum, who will attend Northeastern University in Boston in the fall. Malzone said she and her family are even thinking of getting some chickens.
Malzone, Bree English, Eden Redmond and Kristal Green were instrumental in starting and running the school’s Coffee Corner, which opened earlier this year and helped fund the chicken project. They developed a business plan, did market research, chose products and set pricing for their enterprise.
“I liked learning how to run a business, starting it and seeing how far it went,” said Malzone. “I think it went pretty well.”
Tina Isom, director of community relations and adviser to the Business Professionals of America, said the club chose to donate some of its profits from the coffee venture to the chickens.
“The goal of the club will be to continue making enough money to help with the project,” Malzone said. “In December or January, they will be old enough to start laying eggs.”
Isom said the chickens lived in the nearby greenhouse to keep them close together, help them learn to get along and keep them warm before moving to the coop.
“When they were chicks, we dealt with them briefly and it was very sweet,” said Eden Redmond, who is an alum and coffee shop manager.
The school’s garden, also nearby, has been there for years but was revitalized with new planting beds. It will offer lettuce, peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers and other vegetables.
“The goal is to really incorporate this into the curriculum of science courses,” said Keith James, who runs the Garden and Culinary clubs and led the Conservation Club. “The plan is to be able to have a fresh salad or salsa or even pasta sauce we serve in our lunchroom.”
James, who has raised his own chickens for years and is a songwriter by trade, said the chickens were part of a plan to create compost through a cycle of leaves and straw, food scraps and chicken manure. He is also the parent of two children at the academy, Phillip, 10, and Lillian, 12.
“Hopefully we can get some high schoolers here so we can get some sweat equity out of them,” he said.
He held one of the chickens as he talked to the campers about them and their relationship to the environment and food.
“We’re about to cook with eggs, so we can see where the eggs come from,” he said.
James said they’d soon plant raspberries and blueberries, as well as pumpkin seeds and pumpkins.
Phyllis Cavallone-Jurek, who became head of school about a year ago, came up with the idea to revitalize the garden and the chickens, as well as an enrichment and assistance program for students in a building set up and decorated almost like a cozy home. She said they may end up adding a compost barrel near the chicken coop.
“Our whole mission is about global leadership,” said Cavallone-Jurek. “Our kids really need to understand food and where it’s grown and where it comes from.”
Seeing the chickens in real life can add to what they’re learning in the classroom.
“It may be the first time they’ve planted, grown food and seen the connection,” she said.
Cavallone-Jurek said she fostered a chicken that was dumped in Dan Ryan Woods, finding it a home with a family in Oak Park.
“I have a real affinity for animals,” said Cavallone-Jurek.
Janice Neumann is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
