A group of
Last week, members of Barbara Black’s third grade class at
"Approximately there were 200-eggs and today we have 30 to 40 trout to turn loose," said Black who worked on the program with the Kanawha Valley Chapter of Trout Unlimited. "According to the Trout Unlimited people it’s a better percentage than the trout hatcheries have because they get such personalized care from the kids."
The members of her class took on the project with enthusiasm. Trout Unlimited provided the eggs which were sequestered in a tank in their classroom on September 20th. For three or four weeks the tank had to be darkened, so Black obtained an underwater camera and the children watched the process on the classroom computer monitors. Once hatched, they were delivering regular feedings.
"The kids have watched videos of trout, they’ve read books, they’ve searched the internet," laughs Black. "The kids would take fish food and grind it up, then as the fish got bigger they started feeding them crickets, meal worms, and just about anything they could catch."
Two by two the youngsters made their way to the water with a couple of the fingerlings in a bucket. Some ready poems they had written about their fish then dropped them into the cold waters to swim away.
Past TU President Jack Williams commended the children for their work.
"If you take care of the world the way you’ve taken care of your fish, each and every day the world’s going to be a lot better place to live in and it’s all going to be because of the kids at West Teays Elementary," said Williams.
Funding for the program was provided by Chesapeake Energy.
"When Trout Unlimited brought us this project it was an easy call," said Marybeth Anderson with