Mackeben Halls Alive With the Sound of Chicks, Chirps

After weeks of waiting, kindergarten students at got to meet their chicks.

The school participates in a chick hatching unit over the past month. Chicken eggs were dropped off by an area farmer at the school on April 4. 

The eggs have since hatched and the sounds of chicks chirping at Mackeben Elementary became a familiar sound in classrooms in recent weeks, according to a May 6 District 158 press release.

The hands on educational unit allows students to take part and learn about the process of hatching chicks. Kindergarten classrooms double as mini-chick-hatching labs and teachers use the opportunity to instruct students in various subjects, including science, language arts, technology math, writing and career education, according to the news release.

The chicks typically take 21 days to hatch. Mackeben teacher Jennifer Wilkinson first introduced the chicken life cycle unit 13 years ago.

"The chick unit brings the entire school community together as students, teachers, parents, and other guests are invited into the classroom to take a peek at the little chirping chicks," according to the District 158 press release. "It’s always a sad day when students must say good-bye to their little feathery friends, but they learn early on that the baby chicks must continue their life’s journey by returning to the farm."

To read more about chicken life cycle unit at Mackeben Elementary, visit this Lake in the Hills Patch article.