TIC Shawsville Fish Release 2016
TIC Shawsville Fish Release 2016
Shawsville Middle School sixth-grade teacher Randy Rudasill looks on as student Ashley Woolwine checks the pH acidity of fish tank water. Students at the school raised and released about 100 brook trout through Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom program.
MATT GENTRY | The Roanoke TimesPosted: Friday, April 8, 2016 11:45 pm
By Travis Williams
SHAWSVILLE — With a tiny splash, Supercalifragilistic darted into the coolness of Purgatory Creek and completely out of sight Friday.
It was the first time the brook trout fingerling had ventured into waters outside of a classroom at Shawsville Middle School, yet the temporary caretaker who named him, sixth-grade student Ella Hopkins, was confident in his survival.
“He was an extra big one, so I think he’ll be OK,” she said.
Friday, Ella was one of about 70 students to help release about 100 members of the species they’ve raised in teacher Matt Rezac’s science classroom since September.
“It gives you something else to do other than get tested because that gets a little boring. They make it fun,” Ella said.
Each day the students would test the water for nitrates, nitrites and ammonia, as well as its pH level, and occasionally they would also get to pitch in with feeding time.
Not only did the fish provide his students with a real-life connection to a variety of scientific topics, but the fish had become somewhat of a class pet and students anxiously awaited their day on the calendar to help out with them, Rezac said.
“I get kids that are upset about having a snow day,” Rezac said.
The school’s project is one of hundreds that take place each year in Virginia as a part of Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom, according to the program’s website.
NRV Trout Unlimited Trout in the Classroom coordinator Shirley Shorter said it supplied five or six classrooms in the Montgomery County Public School system with the tanks, food and other equipment needed to grow trout this year.
Shorter and a handful of other volunteers from the organization were present Friday to talk with students about the fish and the creek and teach them how to fly fish.
Shorter said having to take care of the fish teaches the children of the important role the environment plays in their survival.
“The big thing is to start getting help from the next generation in preserving the ecology,” Shorter said.
Social studies teacher Randy Rudasill said Shawsville Middle School has taken part in the program for eight years. He said for the past three years he’d been responsible for setting up the tanks and the fish eggs, which are from Paint Bank State Fish Hatchery. After that, the fish are largely in the hands of the young science students.
“It’s the practical application of what they’re learning,” Rudasill said.
Student Kellen Walthall said having the fish had brought a handful of topics to life for him.
“It helps us learn more about the fish, the ecosystem, the water and other stuff,” Kellen said.
Following the release of his trout, Nemo Jr., and many others, Kellen said he was excited about their potential reunion.
“I can’t wait to see if they survive until I come and catch them,” Kellen said.