Chicks Flock to L'Anse Creuse Center

A L'Anse Creuse education center got warm and fuzzy creatures this Easter season.

The Frederick V. Pankow Center, an operational and occupational learning center in L’Anse Creuse Public Schools, received more than 100 chicks. They were supplied through a one-semester $1,500 grant from the National FFA Organization, a Rural Youth Development grants program and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

The chicks will go to 10 different families in the surrounding area as part of a student program designed to promote healthy living. Ten of the remaining chicks will be kept in horticulture teacher Shirley Tautolo’s classroom and used for related classroom activities before they are donated to a local farm.

How exactly will a flock of chickens inspire families to make better lifestyle choices? The feathered flock will teach how to take responsibility and care for living things, including oneself. By adhering to a caregiver schedule and utilizing natural food, sunlight and water, families and students observe how simple, good choices can bring about healthy results.   

Tautolo, who wrote the grant with the help of fellow faculty members, said it heightened her curriculum by allowing students from horticulture, health occupations, culinary arts and construction trades courses at the center to gain hands-on experience in the classroom.

“It’s a service learning project,” Tautolo said. “The goal is to see students giving back. I want them to learn it’s very rewarding to give back to the community.”  

As participants in the student healthy lifestyle project, a total of 10 volunteer families will each receive 10 chicks to raise. Students from the center will meet with families at scheduled meetings to teach them how to make healthy initiatives like starting their own garden and cooking with the produce they grow. Students will also share strategies for making healthier food choices and committing to regular exercise.

“It’s a better way of learning,” said Chelsea Rupard, a L’Anse Creuse High School Central senior who is in Tautolo’s class.

Tautolo said that there are a total of 85 students benefiting from the grant. Students will also collaborate with third-graders at in Chesterfield Township. The elementary students are caring for several chicken eggs expected to hatch over the next few weeks. The children, who are learning about animals and the environment, plan to host a Farm Day May 24 at the elementary school with a display of animals and tractors.  

Learn more about the initiative by reading the Pankow Horticulture blog at http://edublogs.misd.net/pankowhorticulture.