TUCSON, AZ — Schools having pets is nothing new, but how often do you hear about a school’s pet chicken?
That's the case at Tucson's Howell Elementary School, where one chicken has brought smiles to Howell Elementary students' faces one cluck at a time.
Lucy is a 1-year-old chicken who spends her days roaming the halls of the school.
"She’s my right-hand man," said the school's evening custodian, Gilbert Garcia, who Lucy routinely follows around.
Lucy hatched last September alongside her two rooster brothers. She joined the 'Hawks' family after the two roosters were adopted by a teacher at the school.
"Everyone was sad when we had to let them go," said one of the fourth-graders who helped raise Lucy last year.
Today she serves as a part-time janitor in midtown Tucson, following Garcia through the halls, and cleaning up any crumbs left behind.
"[I] put [her] in the hallway while I’m cleaning, and little by little, she helps me clean rooms now," Garcia said. "[She goes] around and eats what she can, and I go behind her and sweep behind her."
Another fourth-grade student shared the excitement she and her classmates had when they first found out Lucy would become a member of the school.
"When we first knew we were going to get a chicken, we all screamed and had so much fun," she said excitedly.
When she isn’t keeping the classrooms tidy, she’s usually bringing smiles to the faces of her fellow classmates.
"She was so kind to us; she never hurt us or anything like that," the student said, describing Lucy. The other student added, "She would sit in our lap, I would read with her, and she would fall asleep. She’s just so kind."
Garcia says he loves having Lucy by his side. But above all else, it makes him happy to see the joy she brings everyone at the school.
"I’ll be a man about it; it brings a tear to me because she’s loved," he said. "That’s all you hear down the hallway is ‘Lucy.’ Not ‘Gilbert,’ [but] 'Lucy.’
Garcia is working on a bigger chicken coop so Lucy can have a few more feathery friends join her soon.
