After a brief return to Chellberg Farm in early March (thanks to a poultry loan from Scherf Farms Dairy and Creamery) chickens will return to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore in June, where they will enrich Dunes Learning Center educational programs.
The partnership between Dunes Learning Center, the Westville High School AgriScience department and the Westville FFA Chapter will bring 16 Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red chickens to the chicken coop at Chellberg Farm for the summer. Westville students incubated and witnessed the hatching of 8 of the chickens and purchased more baby chicks this spring. “Real-world projects like this go beyond classroom learning,” said Bill Smith, Westville Ag Instructor.
The chickens will be used to help teach lessons in food production, sustainability, and nutrition to Dunes Learning Center campers as well as park visitors. “While visiting Dunes Learning Center, students are challenged to think about interconnections between our food system, the environment, human health, and the impacts of their choices,” explained executive director, Geof Benson. “We’re thrilled to share this learning opportunity with our campers and the general public.”
Thanks to the Dunes Learning Center, Scherf Farms Dairy and Creamery, the Friends of Indiana Dunes, Westville FFA / Ag Dept, Strombergs Chicks & Game Birds, Ms. Lee Nevills of LaCrosse, IN and Jakes Feed and Garden.
Westville students will deliver their chickens to Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore's Chellberg Farm on Tuesday, May 31st at 4:00 p.m. For more information about Dunes Learning Center programs, visit www.duneslearningcenter.org
With a mission to inspire lasting curiosity and stewardship in nature, Dunes Learning Center provides year-round curriculum and standards-based experiential environmental education programs for learners of all ages in partnership with Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore. Located less than an hour from Chicago at the southern tip of Lake Michigan, the 63-acre residential campus is surrounded by rolling woodland, scenic trails and biodiversity seen few places in the world. To learn more, visit DunesLearningCenter.org or follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore is one of the 409 units of the National Park Service, ranging from Yellowstone to the Statue of Liberty. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore includes 15 miles of the southern shoreline of Lake Michigan and 15,000 acres of beach, woods, marshes and prairie in the northwest corner of Indiana. More than 2 million visitors come to this national park each year. More information can be found at NPS.gov/INDU.