LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. — While most elementary school students are excited about playing outside for recess, the students at Lovin Elementary School in Lawrenceville have another reason to want to go outdoors.
Each grade level at the school has what Lovin's STEM Content Specialist, Gerin Hennebaul calls "legacy projects."
This chicken coop is second grade's legacy project and began in the 2017-2018 school year.
Lovin Elementary, alongside Archer High School's engineering students, built a chicken coop or what they call at Lovin a "chicken castle" that houses nine chickens for the students to learn about the life cycle and the importance of community
"We didn't know anything about chickens or chicken coops," Hennebaul said. "There was lots of work that needed to be done."
Hennebaul told 11Alive that they donate the eggs that the chickens lay.
"We donate some of the eggs to our families in need and we give some to Archer High School for their programs," she said.
Hennebaul said the school gives a bags of salad and eggs to families in the community that are in need.
"Community service is huge in the Archer community because we're not tied to a town so we create our own community."
The school's staff has also come up with ways to reduce lunch food waste.
Every day after lunch, the second graders collect all of the uneaten salad and feed it to the chickens.
11Alive spoke with four excited and bright-eyed second graders who were feeding the chickens Tuesday afternoon.
They said they have learned a lot about the importance of taking care of animals.
"You have to be careful so you don't hurt them," one second-grader said.
"You also have to take care of them so they don't get dehydrated. They need lots of food and lots of water."
The faculty and staff behind this chicken coop enjoy seeing the community come together. They will be adding more features to the chicken coop in the near future.
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