By Ema Bojaxhi, Staff Writer
River Hill has many clubs and after school programs that help students engage in the activities they love. River Hill recently added a new program called The Maryland Agricultural Society. This new program is for all students to engage with livestock and farming. However, River Hill has been keeping this club on the low with no announcement and very few advertisements.
The program was created last month on the 5th. The idea for River Hill to add this was to engage students with agriculture life and to get a jump start on any agriculture career. Bon Jompman, a participant in helping build the chicken coop expresses “ I want kids to explore and learn about agricultural life. If they see the chickens in the forest they might want to learn how they adapt to such a lifestyle.”
With the new program being on the newer side, River Hill has dedicated their time to build a chicken coop in the little forest next to Starbucks. Many people are shocked to hear this as chickens don’t live in forests. With the confusion spiraling, let’s hear from some students on their thoughts.
Zeeshan Nazir, a senior, stated, “I don’t really know why they would do something like this, moving chickens from their original home and misplacing them to know God knows what is really in-chicken-mane.”
Many students such as Zeeshan expressed concerns like this wondering the purpose of this. The chicken coop in the forest does not seem like a bright idea. However, the president of this organization, Jessica Melbourne, has stated in her blog the motive behind this act is a psychological test to see how chickens would adapt in a new foreign environment, which many people found quite intriguing.
Rebekah Ayers, a freshman, conveyed “I feel like this is an interesting project and I’m interested in understanding why this project exists.” As Rebekah stated, others are interested or think this is a good idea, Kaliq Fatta, a freshmen as well, expresses “I think this project is very smart to have a chicken coop in the forest to have fresh eggs for the students at River Hill that take culinary classes.”
The chicken coop that River Hill built was a supposed act to help out The Maryland Agricultural Society get a jump start. Jessica Melbourne was very thankful for it. “ I appreciate what the River Hill community has done to help this new program out. We are glad we can not only teach the kids in River Hill about agriculture, but the whole community.”
Admin has set up QR codes around the school for students to scan and learn more about the club. The chicken coop in the forest seems like it would remain until new plans are made. If you are interested head over to the route where starbucks is to see live chickens. Overall the support from River Hill has helped the program strived and many would like to see where this goes in the future.