The hens out back don’t know it yet, but their caretaker just won $25,000.
On what started as a normal Friday at P.S. 177, a school nestled in the heart of Fresh Meadows, Queens, Alanna O’Donnell walked into what she thought was a routine end-of-year celebration. But when her principal handed her an oversized check and the auditorium erupted in applause, the veteran special education teacher froze, then folded her face into her hands.
“Well, holy moly, I’m sweating like crazy and shaking,” she told the crowd, beaming and stunned. “But this is amazing. And I’m so humbled.”
O’Donnell, 46, had just been named one of six borough-wide winners of the FLAG Award for Teaching Excellence, beating out more than 1,600 nominees across New York City. The honor comes with a $25,000 unrestricted cash prize for the teacher, and $10,000 for the school to keep her projects blooming, literally.
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Her classroom isn’t your standard chalk-and-whiteboard setup. O’Donnell teaches students with profound special needs only one child in her class is verbal. And yet, she’s built an entire world for them: an urban farm, a chicken coop, and a curriculum stitched together with care, sweat, and grants from the state Department of Agriculture and Markets.
Seven hens, two chicks, herbs, veggies, and flowers everything tended by students who, by most systems’ standards, aren’t “supposed” to do these things. But you try telling that to the kids who now hug chickens, gather eggs, clean coops, and walk with purpose.
“There was a lot of, like, ‘Don’t squeeze the neck, don’t pop the beak,’” O’Donnell laughed. “But now? My kids walk them, hug them, clean up their poop. No issue. It shows the world these kids have a voice.”
And the eggs? One a day, sold for $5 a dozen. There’s a waiting list. Try finding that kind of buzz at a Manhattan brunch spot.
Real-world lessons with real-world stakes
But O’Donnell’s vision stretches beyond the coop. She takes her students shopping to teach money-handling and social navigation. She founded the Pink Ladies, a club for current and former female students, to keep their social ties strong through annual luncheons. Every lesson, whether in counting change or caring for chickens is rooted in building confidence, independence, and empathy.
“This field’s not an easy road,” she said. “But I get to be the voice for the voiceless.”
When she learned a parent had nominated her, O’Donnell was visibly moved. “That,” she told The New York Post, “made it even more special.”
A job that’s never just a job
O’Donnell has been with the Department of Education for 12 years, and she’s never done this work halfway. It’s not just about IEPs and lesson plans. It’s about showing up for kids most of the world overlooks and giving them a shot at something bigger maybe a job at the Queens County Farm, maybe a future that no one thought to write into their file.
“Wouldn’t it be amazing?” she said, dreaming aloud. “If they got to work there someday?”
Amazing, yes. But knowing O’Donnell? She’s probably already writing the grant.
