Special Delivery for the Holidays !

One thing students look forward to just as much as their big holiday break, is the bundle of tiny trout eggs that are arriving in schools across Southern Virginia!

Trout in the Classroom officially kicked off its 7th season in Southern Virginia as 30 bundles of tiny, pink, Brown Trout eggs were delivered to some very excited local students.  

Arriving at the Wytheville State Hatchery in the early morning hours, Krista Hodges and Brian Williams of the Dan River Basin Association met Hatchery manager Butch Bates to pick up the precious cargo. First stop was a trip outside where we got to see the big breeder browns that are the parents to the eggs we would be getting.   Its always exciting to see these big browns and know that what those tiny pink eggs are capable of growing into !

 Krista watches the big browns in the outdoor raceway

A big breeder brown trout

We began the process of carefully packaging the tiny bundles for delivery to their new homes in schools across Patrick, Franklin, Henry and Pittsylvania Counties where over 1000 students are participating in the program this season. First the eggs are removed from the brood trays.

Next they are transferred to a holding tank and onto a countertop to be counted out and wrapped in cheese cloth bundles of 200 - 225 eggs in each bundle.

Trout in the Classroom (TIC) was established in Virginia in 2005 by local orthodontist Dr. David Jones and under the direction of the Dan River Basin Association with funding from the Harvest Foundation, and other sources, TIC in Southern Virginia has grown to include around 30 tanks in 4 counties each year.  The program has also developed statewide under the direction of the Virginia Trout Unlimited State Council and currently there are 180 tanks in schools across the state.

 “The students and teachers really light up as soon as they find out their eggs have arrived!” says Krista Hodges, Education Outreach Coordinator for DRBA.  The trout eggs are carried inside of a cheese cloth bundle containing around 200 eggs, which is opened up to be passed around for the students to see.   

 Many of the students want to know what the dark spots are and why some of them are a different color.  The eggs are called “eye-ups” at this stage and have dark spots that can be seen in the center which are their developing eyes.  As the students watch closely, some movement can be seen within the egg as the tiny trout wiggle around.  The movement is a sign that the students should be seeing some hatching before they leave for break.

 Some eggs are white and have to be removed as those may not have been fertilized and will not hatch, and that is part of the care the teachers and students have to provide, removing bad eggs, just like the adult trout would in the wild.

You can tell the students, teachers and other staff involved have become interested in the tiny eggs when they go from saying “slimy fish eggs” to “hey, this is pretty cool!”  Trout in the Classroom is an intriguing and exciting program because an instant connection is made with these tiny pink packages that soon will be hungry little trout swimming around the student’s tanks, waiting to be fed. 

 The students learn how to take care of the trout and provide them a healthy environment to grow over the next six months and they soon realize these guys won’t survive without their help. The program focuses on clean water and healthy rivers and teaches the students the importance of trout as an indicator species in our streams. The students also know they will not be able to keep the trout forever so they learn what it takes to keep them alive and healthy after they are released into the rivers, like clean water and a balanced ecosystem.  The program is not only exciting for the students but it also instills a conservation ethic where they learn good stewardship and what it takes to keep their own local waterways and environment clean forever.

2011 Trout Release Schedule

School Release Date Release Time Release site Stuart 5/2/2011 10:00 Dan /Kibler  Patrick Springs  5/2/2011 10:00 Dan /Kibler  Axton Elem-1 5/9/2011  9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Collinsville Prim 5/10/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Rich Acres 5/11/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Carlisle 5/11/2011 10:30-11:00 a.m. Smith Drewrey Mason 5/12/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Mt Olivet 5/13/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Mt Olivet 5/13/2011 1:00-1:30 p.m. Smith Blue Ridge 5/16/2011 10:00 a.m. Dan /Kibler  Trinity 5/17/2011 10:00 a.m. Dan /Kibler  Axton Elem-2 5/18/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Tunstall 5/19/2011 10:30- 11:00 a.m. Smith DME 5/19/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Woolwine 5/24/2011 9:15-10:00 a.m. Smith Rich Acres 5/25/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Cambell Ct 5/26/2011 1:00-1:30 p.m. Smith Sanville 5/26/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith Hardin Reynolds 5/26/2011 10:30 a.m. Smith Feildale Collinsv 5/27/2011 9:00-9:30 a.m. Smith Feildale Collinsv 5/27/2011 1:00-1:30 p.m. Smith Laurel Park 5/31/2011 9:00-9:30 a.m. Smith Laurel Park 5/31/2011 11:00-11:30 a.m. Smith Laurel Park 5/31/2011 1:00-1:30 p.m. Smith Bassett High 6/1/2011 9:00-9:30 a.m. Smith Magna Vista 6/1/2011 1:00-1:30 p.m. Smith Snow Creek 6/3/2011 9:30-10:00 a.m. Smith

Tis the Season for Trout !

Each year around the first week December, students across the Smith River Valley have anxiously awaited the arrival of a special package that heralds the beginning of a new season. They arrive as small wet bundles wrapped in cheesecloth containing hundreds of tiny pink eggs. 

The delivers to schools across the area mark the beginning of another season of Trout in the Classroom.   Over the next six months, students in local area schools will take on the responsibility of caring for these brown trout as they hatch and grow into fingerlings for release into our local rivers. 

The Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program in Virginia started in 2005 and this year marks the beginning of the sixth season for what has become one of Virginia’s top watershed education programs.  

The brown trout eggs that were picked up last Friday are provided by The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) from the state hatchery at Wytheville, VA.  Butch Bates, hatchery manger welcomes TIC coordinators across the state and has been instrumental in the support of the program since 2006.  

This award-wining program was originally conceived by Trout Unlimited over 20 years ago but was first introduced to Virginia classrooms by Dr. David Jones, a Martinsville area Orthodontist and has become an institution here in Southwest Virginia as one of the largest single TIC programs in the country. 

 TIC staff and volunteers make the trip across 3 counties and back to pick up thousands of trout eggs and deliver them to schools participating in the program.  These eggs are just the beginning and students and teachers will be raising the trout throughout the school year as they hatch from the fragile eggs and grow into healthy young trout under their watchful care. The trout eggs are delivered  to classrooms usually around the first week in December.   Dr. Jones, Brian Williams of the Dan River Basin Association and volunteer TIC helpers have been making the journey to the hatchery each year and according to Brian, “It’s great way to kick off the start of each season.  The students are always excited when we arrive with eggs and you can see that it really sparks an interest in learning about the trout.  It’s amazing when you think how many kids have been through the program here in our region and now it has grown to 140 tanks across the state from Richmond on through to the Blueridge.”  

 This year, Brian and TIC volunteer Lisa Hall, a local dental hygienist and member of Smith River Trout Unlimited, made the journey to Wytheville to pick up the eggs.  This is volunteer Hall’s first year helping with the program. “Wow, this program is incredible and the trip to the hatchery was a fantastic experience.  We saw the huge parent trout that provided the eggs for this year and delivering  to schools was very exciting…the kids are really excited to get their eggs, “ said Lisa.   

TIC could not be possible without the help of the VDGIF and Butch

Bates, hatchery manager at Wytheville according to Brian Williams.  “Butch has really made a difference in the program and has been extremely helpful with his knowledge of rearing trout fry.  “I love it !, says Butch. “ With just a small investment of time we can provide these eggs that help thousands of students learn about their local watersheds and why clean water is important to the health of our rivers” We raise a lot of fish for our stocking program but TIC is one way we can really make an impact on so many kids with so little effort, its great!”  The eggs should be hatching just before Christmas break and will remain in the baskets for about 3 weeks.  Trout need cold, clean water to survive and one of the major lessons the student learn is how a healthy stream has lots of food for trout and clean water.

Deliveries to Henry, Franklin and Pittsylvania school began on Friday with each school receiving a bundle of 200-250 eggs.  “The program has grown to over 30 tanks in four counties and with so many schools in the program now, we don’t even make it to them all in one day and some eggs are held in tanks and delivered in the next week, “ according to Brian.   Wayne Kirpatrick, president of the Dan River basin Association and Rozina Turner of Woolwine Elementary,  will be picking up and delivering eggs for all Patrick County Schools on December 14^th. Patrick County has the distinction of having a trout tank in every one of its schools this year.

Across the country, Trout in the Classroom programs are sponsored by local organizations and funded locally as well.  The Martinsville / Henry County TIC program continues to be supported by the resources from the Harvest Foundation, Dr. David Jones, the Dan River Basin Association staff and volunteers, and local civic organizations.   

The real dedication comes from the teachers and students as they are responsible for the care, feeding and eventual release of trout into the Smith and Dan Rivers. 

According to David Jones, “The teachers and students are the heroes of this program and the key to its success.  With their support, dedication and love for the program we are beginning to see the results.  Students are learning about our local rivers and beginning to understand the importance of water quality and how it impacts to quality of life and even our economy. We have also see amazing results in attendance and learning and development in classrooms exposed to this program.”   

An avid fly fisherman and strong conservationist, Lisa Hall has seen the program in action and is anxious to help students and teachers this year.  “What a great way to start the holiday season…all I want for Christmas is hatching trout !”

For more information on the local program visit:

http://www.danriver.org/Education/TroutClassroom.htm

For information on Trout Unlimited and the national Trout in the Classroom Program visit:

http://www.troutintheclassroom.org