Grier Students Release Trout into Local Waterway
On April 30, 2018, Grier School’s Life Science class and their teacher, Mrs. Christine Fernandes, participated in Trout Release Day events as part of their participation in the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom program (TIC). The class raised brook trout fingerlings from eggs that they received from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. Grier School partnered with local resident Bill Anderson, president of the Little Juniata River Association (LJRA), to raise their trout, and students released the trout a few weeks prior to their official release day in McClain Run at the Camp Greene Hills site in Barree, Pennsylvania.
TIC is an interdisciplinary program that introduces cold water conservation education in Pennsylvania schools by raising brook trout, a native cold water species, from eggs to fingerlings. Throughout the school year, students monitor and record aquarium water quality and trout behavior. The program exists statewide thanks to a partnership between the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited (PATU), Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), and the support of the Pennsylvania Department of Education. Grier’s Life Science class cared for their trout on a daily basis, while their teacher incorporated cold water education and adaptation lessons into the classroom. The LJRA is a Program Partner that assists the classroom teacher by providing content knowledge and technical support to help the students feel vested in cold water conservation.
Grier’s TIC release site is managed by Charlie Renner. The Release Day activities took place with the help of presenters Stacia-Fe Gillen (watershed specialist from the Huntingdon County Conservation District), Brianna Benson and Leslie Leckvarcik (from Juniata College’s Science in Motion program). Also presenting were Bill Anderson, Carl Reed, Bill Bressler, and Joe Maschue (of the LJRA); Corey Girt and Sean Saucerman (Waterways conservation officers from the PA Fish and Boat Commission); and Bill Lukens (retired hatchery worker). Students learned how to collect and ID macroinvertebrates in the stream. They used their findings to indirectly determine the water quality. They made fish prints, electrofished, and tied Pink Woolly Bugger flies as part of their day. As an extension activity, on May 1, the students helped the PA Fish and Boat commission stock Bald Eagle Creek with hatchery raised trout.
The TIC program is designed to foster awareness and knowledge about cold water conservation for students in grades 3-12 and to encourage continued participation in cold water conservation, management, and recreation programs. Grier School and the LJRA provided funding for this program.
Grier School
2522 Grier School Rd. | P.O. Box 308; Birmingham, PA 16686-0308
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
Phone: 814-684-3000 | Fax: 814-684-2177
