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WRIGHT TWP. — Crestwood High School senior Joel Sledziewski stood at the edge of Wapwallopen Creek on Wednesday and scrutinized the stream as if he was getting ready to fish.
Right away Sledziewski noticed a deep pool that had formed at the based of a tree, fed by shallow riffle.
But Sledziewski wasn’t looking for a place to land a few trout. He was trying to find a home for 45 brook trout fingerlings.
Sledziewski and other students in biology teacher Sara Randle’s class spent the past school year raising trout from eggs as part of the Trout in the Classroom program – a joint venture between the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission and the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited. Crestwood is one of four Luzerne County schools participating in the program and has done so since 2009.
Trout eggs and startup kits are provided to participating schools in October, and students raise trout in a classroom aquarium, taking care of feeding, changing and monitoring water and doing anything else the trout need to survive and grow.
Randle said the program gave students a hands-on experience with a variety of subjects, such as ecology, biology and chemistry.
“It’s very visual and the topics are applied to a real lesson,” she said. “They see the fish grow and survive, and they see why we are doing things like testing water chemistry.”
Randle saw her students take ownership of the project.
Juniors Zach Biros and Bray Van Derhoff got involved with Trout in the Classroom as freshmen and while both love to fish, they’ve also grown to appreciate what it takes to raise fish as well.
“Keeping the water temperature and the pH level was the biggest challenge,” Van Derhoff said. “The pH got too high, up to 7.6, and the nitrates weren’t the best either but it went down toward the end.”
And, months after the school received its allotment of 200 brook trout eggs, the students had successfully raised 45 fish that were ready to release.
At the stream, the lessons continued. Students immediately went to work taking the water temperature and carefully mixing water from the stream into the container holding the trout fingerlings.
Ryan LeRoy, a senior, said the class had taken a trip to Nescopeck Creek during the school year to conduct a stream survey and learn about water chemistry. Raising and releasing trout gives a firsthand look at the work that goes on in a fish hatchery, he said.
“A healthy stream has more insects, and running water is a big factor for trout because it has higher oxygen levels,” LeRoy said. “It’s also important to have shade to keep the water cool.”
After mixing stream water in the container and letting the trout fingerlings become acclimated, it was time to let them go. Sledziewski carried the container to the edge of the deep pool and gently poured the trout into Wapwallopen Creek. The spot was suitable, he said, because it replicated the habitat that wild trout prefer.
“This gives them a place to hide and eases the transition,” Sledziewski said. “They can hide under the tree or the large rocks, and the run will provide plenty of oxygen. This program brings everything we’ve been learning about, full circle.”
