When it comes to the question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, you’ll see it’s clear at St. Edward High School in Lakewood.
St. Ed’s is known for a lot of things. Especially, being a football powerhouse, but did you know there’s a hen house just off the football field?
"We're in the chicken coop here at St. Ed’s,” said Cooper Meneghetti.
"My name's Cooper, so I like to mess around and say Cooper in the coop!”
St. Eggward is the egg operation at St. Edward High School.
It started about a year ago and is run by students like Cooper, triplets Owen, Sean and Chris McGee, as well as the St. Andre scholars like Nick Gray and RJ Icke, who help feed and water the chickens every morning.
“Every three days, either the McGee brothers are out here, or I'm out here, and sometimes the St. Andre scholars join us, which is awesome,” smiled Cooper.
“The chickens like to eat kale because it's healthy for them,” explained Nick.
The students also help run the entrepreneurial side of the operation with the egg sales.
Cooper says it’s taught them a lot about the sourcing of food and “the value of hard work and dedication to build something up from the ground basically."
The chicken operation isn’t the only thing they’ve built from the ground up.
“So, this is our garden. As you can see, we grow a lot of stuff,” said Johnny Mendoza.
A garden full of veggies and herbs was the first urban agriculture initiative at St. Edward. The students came up with the idea just as the pandemic began.
Their first growing season was in 2021. They harvested hundreds of pounds of produce, and Johnny says it’s only grown from there.
"During the summer, we harvest. During the spring, we plant, and in the fall, we do clean up,” he said.
Johnny and fellow St. Ed’s students like Vinny Maiorana, Brendan McLaughlin and Ross Loney tend to the garden daily. Usually, just after lunch, they say.
The young men say they’ve learned a lot about growing seasons, plant biology and food sustainability. Johnny is even beginning to grow his own garden at home.
“I’m just starting with raspberries,” he said.
There is another urban agricultural initiative buzzing on campus.
“There are about 60,000 bees in it,” said John Satanek pointing to a hive atop the school’s roof.
First, it was the garden. Then, the chickens. And new this year - bees!
The students are also beekeepers for the lone hive on the roof.
“We check the frames to make sure they're producing honey,” explained John of their daily duties, along with Luke Arra and Faisel Aldosari, who were wearing bee suits as they checked the hive.
He says they’ve learned so much about beekeeping and the importance of habitat for bees so they can pollinate plants and the critical role they play in our food supply.
He says it’s also given them a new perspective on life, the environment, and the world around us.
“Because you see all these bees working together to create food and keep thriving,” said John.
And that is what’s happening at St. Edward High School. All the students’ work is helping their community thrive.
“It makes me feel proud,” said Johnny.
All of the produce, egg sales, and soon the honey benefit charities that fight hunger.
“Service is such a huge component of what we do, and we want to be good neighbors to the Lakewood community,” said KC McKenna, President of St. Edward High School.
St. Ed’s president says it’s not just a lesson in service but also the importance of interdisciplinary learning.
“Another thing that I think is so important, and it's something that we talk about all the time here, is that one person can have one idea that makes a huge impact,” he said.
The urban agriculture initiative was started by a student with the idea for a garden and has grown steadily every year. More students have joined in. Students have engineered and built the garden beds, fencing, and chicken coop.
McKenna says teachers like Lisa Hardin have also been instrumental in helping get things going and organized.
So, when it comes to the question of which came first: the chicken or the egg. At St. Ed’s the answer is great minds hatch great ideas.
“When you’re able to create something and you see it go from nothing, this was nothing,” said President McKenna pointing to the chicken coop and garden just off the track the wraps around the football field. “And now it’s something, and you’re part of that. You always have that instilled in you.”
McKenna said the plot of land that St. Edward High School sits on used to be an orchard. He says he and Hardin have discussed possibly planting some apple and fruit-bearing trees along the west side of campus.
He said it’s all getting the most out of their footprint.
St. Ed’s has about 900 students, says McKenna. Harden estimates about 50 students volunteer with the urban agriculture programs.
She says the school requires volunteer service hours, and this fulfills that pledge, but that most all of the students involved have already gone above and beyond their required service hours and participate because they truly love the experience with the garden, chickens and bees.
