RCHS Students, Boxerwood Participate In National Initiative
After months of swimming around in a glass-enclosed home, 100 fingerling brook trout rode a school bus to a location on Colliers Creek last month and discovered a whole new world.
Raised from eggs in a career and technical education (CTE) classroom at Rockbridge County High School, the fish entered their new stream with considerable trepidation. Donning waders, students from the school’s forestry/agriculture program encouraged them forth.
This is the first year RCHS students have participated in the Trout-In-The-Classroom program, a national initiative of Trout Unlimited that is facilitated locally by Boxerwood Education Association.
“It’s a great opportunity,” commented Boxerwood operations director Hannah West, who has managed the program with local schools for a number of years. “Growing up with Boxerwood, all local kids learn how to protect our streams and rivers and why that’s important. Raising brook trout is one way to put that learning into action. Plus it helps foster a closer connection with the natural world.” CTE Ag/Forestry educator Gwen Gosney concurred, noting the hands-on program aligns with course goals that students understand the interactions between land and water ecosystems and the value of effective management.
According to West, brook trout are native to the colder, pristine streams in the Rockbridge area.
“Keeping the fish alive in their tanks requires careful attention to their needs,” said West, noting that the CTE students had been very successful in providing that care.
That ecological consideration continued on release day as the forestry team checked environmental conditions at the release site, assessing oxygen and pH levels, temperature, and other abiotic and biotic indicators of water quality. Fortunately, Colliers Creek provides good habitat, said West, noting release of the brook trout requires a state permit.
That permit will come in handy this month when children from Central Elementary School also complete a brook trout release at this location.
“Hats off also to fourth-grade teacher Teresa Torrence and her fifth-grade colleagues and students for their annual efforts,” said West, adding, “By now raising brook trout is a Central tradition.”
According to West, Rockbridge classrooms over the years have now launched more than a thousand native brook trout into local streams, “and that’s just the start!”
