Something to crow about

13-year-old student Jordan Lederman from Pine Lake Middle School in Sammamish entered a video contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) on the importance of getting a good education. Of the 600 entries received, staffers at DOE picked 10 finalists, including Jordan. Her video, that explains how different subjects have helped her learn about chickens, is a how-to for the cross curriculum connotations of Farm-to-School programs. She is also quite sweet and a little silly in a very charming way. Click on Lederman’s video (lower right hand corner) and watch her chicken story. If you get there by December 4th you can vote for the contest winner.

Club Pollo Brings Chickens to School

A private school in Annapolis, Maryland, has started a chicken club for students to learn about raising chickens, including lessons about how their small scale chicken operation differs from the industrial chicken farms raising most food chickens in this country. They call themselves "Club Pollo" and the program includes slaughtering the chickens in winter, with the exception of a few students who've decided to seek homes for their favorite birds. Read more at Examiner.com.