By: Erin Gaglias
Hello Trout Family!
What a year it has been! Longwood's Trout in the Classroom Program has had it's most successful run yet, let's start off with some stats first:
- We have successfully maintained five 50-gallon trout tanks in the high school that have spanned biology, environmental, and special education classrooms.
- The high school released over 400 brook trout fingerlings into the headwaters of the Peconic River on 4/22 (Earth Day).
- Our program maintained its expansion into Longwood Middle School, which yielded 121 brook trout fingerlings that were again released into the headwaters of the Peconic River on 5/26.
- The Art Flick chapter of Trout Unlimited have recognized several of our program members with certificates of service and appreciation.
It's so important to note that none of these accomplishments would have been achieved without the hard work of everyone involved with our Trout in the Classroom Program. Special thanks goes out to our advisors Mr. Suarez and Mr. Grausso, as well as Tony Ertola from Trout Unlimited for all of their encouragement and support. A final recognition goes to all of our high school students who have designated their own time to clean the tanks, journal their findings, spend time with our middle school and special education students, as well as promoting cooperation and teamwork amongst all of our members. This program would not be possible without all of these hardworking individuals, and we like to think that the trout are thankful!
So what happens to the trout? All of the fingerlings we released will ultimately contribute to the enrichment of biodiversity in the Peconic River. These trout have also served as an education tool of sorts to promote ecological awareness and stewardship through the education that is the Trout in the Classroom program. We currently have 20 full-grown brook trout fingerlings in one tank that will be maintained over the summer, in the hopes that they will be good candidates for several aquaponics projects that we have in the works. Thanks again to Cold Spring Harbor Hatchery and Aquarium and Trout Unlimited for providing us with our eggs at the beginning of the season!
As for the future of the program, we are looking forward to again expand our project into more science classrooms throughout Longwood Central School District. The invaluable sentiment of promoting conservation through education has proved to be conducive to the success of the program, and to our members as well.
As for me, this blog post is certainly bittersweet because our trout and this program has been one of the highlights of my senior year. I hope to pass the torch (so to speak) to one of our underclassmen and keep the blog running! I can speak for myself and my peers that this has been an extremely rewarding experience, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Signing off for now,
Erin Gaglias
Hello Trout Family!
What a year it has been! Longwood's Trout in the Classroom Program has had it's most successful run yet, let's start off with some stats first:
- We have successfully maintained five 50-gallon trout tanks in the high school that have spanned biology, environmental, and special education classrooms.
- The high school released over 400 brook trout fingerlings into the headwaters of the Peconic River on 4/22 (Earth Day).
- Our program maintained its expansion into Longwood Middle School, which yielded 121 brook trout fingerlings that were again released into the headwaters of the Peconic River on 5/26.
- The Art Flick chapter of Trout Unlimited have recognized several of our program members with certificates of service and appreciation.
It's so important to note that none of these accomplishments would have been achieved without the hard work of everyone involved with our Trout in the Classroom Program. Special thanks goes out to our advisors Mr. Suarez and Mr. Grausso, as well as Tony Ertola from Trout Unlimited for all of their encouragement and support. A final recognition goes to all of our high school students who have designated their own time to clean the tanks, journal their findings, spend time with our middle school and special education students, as well as promoting cooperation and teamwork amongst all of our members. This program would not be possible without all of these hardworking individuals, and we like to think that the trout are thankful!
So what happens to the trout? All of the fingerlings we released will ultimately contribute to the enrichment of biodiversity in the Peconic River. These trout have also served as an education tool of sorts to promote ecological awareness and stewardship through the education that is the Trout in the Classroom program. We currently have 20 full-grown brook trout fingerlings in one tank that will be maintained over the summer, in the hopes that they will be good candidates for several aquaponics projects that we have in the works. Thanks again to Cold Spring Harbor Hatchery and Aquarium and Trout Unlimited for providing us with our eggs at the beginning of the season!
As for the future of the program, we are looking forward to again expand our project into more science classrooms throughout Longwood Central School District. The invaluable sentiment of promoting conservation through education has proved to be conducive to the success of the program, and to our members as well.
As for me, this blog post is certainly bittersweet because our trout and this program has been one of the highlights of my senior year. I hope to pass the torch (so to speak) to one of our underclassmen and keep the blog running! I can speak for myself and my peers that this has been an extremely rewarding experience, and I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Signing off for now,
Erin Gaglias