‘The chicken lady’ of Queens: Fresh Meadows teacher wins major award for urban farm program
“People can’t get eggs fast enough,” O’Donnell said. “We take whatever money we have left and reinvest in the farm.”
By Athena Dawson
MSN
June 10, 2025
Excerpt:
To many, Alanna O’Donnell is affectionately known as “the chicken lady.” The special education teacher at P177Q, The Robin Sue Ward School for Exceptional Children in Fresh Meadows, runs the first public school chicken coop in Queens’ District 75.
O’Donnell has a flock of 9 chickens that she takes care of with her class, a small group of six 19 to 21-year-olds affectionately referred to as her “boys.”
O’Donnell, with the support of three paraprofessionals, runs a unique hybrid academic and Essential for Living curriculum that builds a vocational and social skills program for the boys.
The backyard of PS 177Q is an unusual sight: an urban farm complete with a chicken coop, vegetable garden, and sensory garden that disrupts the mundane flow of the otherwise unassuming neighborhood of Fresh Meadows.
O’Donnell and her students take care of the day-to-day upkeep, including feeding the chickens, cleaning their coops, and other related tasks. The tasks are rotating between the students, a tactic she uses to help her students get used to change in routine, build empathy, and other important behavioral skills. “?When we started with this…my boys did not want anything to do with them. Now they’re hand feeding them,” she said. “They’ll pick them up, they’ll move them from one area of the coop to the actual farm on their own.”
Read the complete article here.
Source: https://cityfarmer.info/the-chicken-lady-of-queens-fresh-meadows-teacher-wins-major-award-for-urban-farm-program/
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