This year a new addition has been added to the Independence family. Loudoun County gave Independence baby chicken eggs to the science department to help students learn about evolution. 

Mr. Mario Saavedra, the science teacher who is hosting the chicks, said “We got the chicks to learn about evolution. The chicks were to discover what came first, the chicken or the egg? It was the egg.”

After watching the eggs in an incubator, the chicks hatched on May 11. After four eggs hatched, they each were given a name: George, Chucky, Picking Piken, and “No Name.”

Staff and students immediately fell in love with the chicks, and people would take them on daily field trips to visit other classrooms. 

Helena Quiles, a student of Mr. Saav’s, had a more controversial opinion on bringing the chicks to Independence: “It was really fun to have chicks in the class for learning purposes, and they were really cute. However, I do think it’s sad that they’re in a classroom with a bunch of teenagers. Classrooms get really loud, and with everyone waiting to hold them, I bet it causes the chicks a lot of stress and anxiety.”

A second opinion on the chicks from Mr. Saav’s class was by Nishita Chiplunkar, a junior. “I loved having the chicks. They made class more fun, and we could always hold them.”

Mr. Saav continued the lesson with the chicks by having a socratic seminar, in his AP/DE Biology classes, where students debated if using animals for science experiments is ethical. 

The chicks left Indy for a new home on May 24.