Chicken Coop in CVHS- Celebrating Our School

8/7/2026 2:33 pm

The Breakfast Club

(Ms. Hillary Schulze)

 

What began as an AP Environmental Science (APES) Legacy Project effort became a hugely meaningful story of curiosity, heartbreak, resilience, and community at Carnegie Vanguard High School.  

 

APES students and I, new to Carnegie with a goal to revamp the APES program, decided to implement a Legacy Project for students with the goal of creating a lasting environmental impact on our immediate community; our campus. For seniors Josue Avelar, Demir Kahraman, Deniz Kahraman, Sam Adeyemi, and then-junior (now senior) Raam Bansal, that vision began with wanting to observe six fertilized eggs hatch into chicks. Josue, whose family raises chickens, brought the eggs from home, and soon the class experienced the wonder of watching three tiny chicks hatch before their eyes. Students named them Oluwa, Edgar, and Gurt, and in just a few short days, the little birds captured the hearts of the entire Rhino community. Between classes, during lunch, and after school, students stopped by to interact with them and watch them grow. Their cheerful peeps and curious personalities brought smiles to everyone who visited. 

 

 

Then, overnight on April 2, everything changed. A hawk attacked, and the three chicks were killed. The loss was devastating. Students across campus mourned together, and as teachers, we struggled to help them process. What had been the beginning of a joyful science project had unexpectedly become a lesson about the realities of nature, loss, natural selection and the fragility of life. 

But the story did not end there. 

 

Instead of allowing heartbreak to define the project, the students chose to let it inspire something greater. While some classmates created a memorial to honor the lost chicks, the coop team joined forces with me and Dr. Haney from Human Geography to imagine a future where this experience could continue safely for generations of Rhinos. Josue's family once again demonstrated extraordinary generosity by donating a mother hen and seven two-month-old chicks, giving the project a second chance. 

  

 Some of the chicks from the seven chicks donated by Josue's family

 

Building that future became a campus-wide effort. Technical Theatre students quickly emerged as the experts, spending countless hours designing, building, rebuilding, and refining the coop. Art students offered ideas to make the space more beautiful and inviting. Photography students enjoyed capturing the chickens for bird photography projects. Human Geography students became regular visitors and eager helpers. What started as one APES group's Legacy Project naturally evolved into something that belonged to everyone. 

 

 

Students working on the construction of coop

 

 

When it came time to name the new flock, the Rhino student body voted on a theme: Breakfast Foods. Mother hen, Lady Marmalade, continues to thrive and lay eggs. Her chicks: Toast, Honey, Butter, Beignet, Biscuit, Nutella (Luwa), and Kolache are now larger than her. Our flock and the many Rhinos who care for them are affectionately known as the Breakfast Club. Their playful personalities, enthusiastic chatter, and daily antics have made them beloved members of the Carnegie community. Students and faculty alike find themselves stopping by throughout the day, often leaving with lighter hearts than when they arrived. 

 

 Lady Marmalde

 

Mama with the babies in the new coop

 

The coop continues to fulfill its environmental mission in meaningful ways. The hens will be laying fresh eggs, while their bedding will enrich the school's composting efforts in the gardens, creating new opportunities for hands-on lessons and projects in sustainability and agriculture. We plan to make them an integral part of a state-of-the-art cross curricular food waste recycling program here at CVHS.  

The Breakfast Club has become a place of invitation; where teachers of all content areas utilize the coop in the capacity that works for their students and as meaningful project-based learning. Rhinos are able to experience environmental stewardship in real time that is rooted in collaboration, compassion, and perseverance. What began with the heartbreak of losing three tiny chicks has grown into a fertile

learning lab for the whole campus. 

First eggs 

 

Chickens now :)