The Lackawanna County Conservation District is looking for a local school to participate in the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom program where students raise trout from eggs for eventual release into designated waterways.
The program is designed to teach students about trout life cycles, watershed and cold-water conservation, ecosystems and more through a hands-on educational curriculum. The conservation district’s Watershed Improvement Program will fund the project at the participating school, with funding beginning at $2,000, per a county news release.
A number of Northeast Pennsylvania school districts already incorporate Trout in the Classroom. The Scranton School District, for example, participates through its STEMM Academy for students interested in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medical fields.
Conservation district watershed specialist Bailey White said last week that her organization is looking for another local school to participate, be it at the elementary, middle or high school level. Schools must be registered for the program by the end of August.
“We’re just trying to expand it because not many schools in Lackawanna County have the program running, so we’re just trying to build some more awareness,” White said, noting students exposed to wildlife, ecology and local ecosystems at younger ages are more likely to develop interests in those areas that can snowball into a passion. “We need more people that are interested in this field and more people that are willing to put in the time and effort and to sweat a little bit to make change happen.
“It can’t just be the National Park Service or the EPA,” she continued. “We have to start at ground level and frankly we need to build an army of people who care about the environment, starting with education in our schools. And there’s no easier way to make that happen … than bringing the wildlife to them.”
Teachers participating in the program set up aquarium tanks in their classrooms that serve as small cold-water ecosystems for trout the Pennsylvania Fish and Board Commission provides as eggs. After the eggs hatch, students watch and learn as the nascent fish transform from alevins, a stage in the life cycle where newly hatched trout are still attached to a yolk sac. They eventually grow into young fingerling trout, with the students ultimately releasing the fish into the wild during a field trip at the conclusion of the program.
Trout in the Classroom is made possible through a unique partnership between the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and the Fish and Boat Commission. Trout unlimited chapters, watershed associations and conservation districts and similar organizations often serve as program partners or sponsors.
“The program’s malleability makes it extremely educational and applicable,” the county’s news release notes. “Teachers can mold it to a curriculum that aligns with the grade and subject they teach.”
Any school interested in incorporating Trout in the Classroom into its curriculum should call the conservation district at 570-382-3086 or email stiles@lccd.net.