Fourth grade teacher Mark Boen has Champion Schools, a charter school located in San Tan Valley, going to the chickens this fall.
"A couple months ago, I got baby chicks for our classroom," he explained. "Since then, they have moved to a traveling pen in the school garden. They have become such a hit with the kids."
Boen brought 13 baby chickens in six varieties, from Barred Rock to Rhodesian red chickens, into his fourth grade classroom where students watched them grow for five weeks under a heat lamp. After fall break recently when the fourth graders returned to his classroom, they had to gradually move the growing chickens from the classroom to the chicken coop out by the garden, where the chickens like to sleep when the students aren't playing with them and taking care of them.
"The kids just really love going to the garden and really love the chickens," Boen said. "They like to hold them because they're soft and fluffy. They work for the chance to hold the chickens when we go outside, we call it the Golden Chicken Award."
He said the chickens help fertilize the garden as well, where they plant everything from beets to onions.
"Not many kids see chickens anymore and they feed them milk on bread, it softens the bread for them to eat," Boen added. "Soon they'll be laying eggs and we'll sell those eggs along with all the fruits and vegetables from the garden to the students' parents, who support our efforts. It's become a whole school thing."
Boen came to Champion charter school in San Tan Valley when the school opened in 2017, after spending 34 years teaching in Minnesota.
Champion Schools - San Tan Valley is located at 1846 E. Bella Vista Road. They are a pre-kindergarten through eighth grade tuition-free charter school with another location in Chandler.
