Trout In The Classroom

With the addition of 15 new schools this year, the PPTU-initiated Trout in the Classroom program is enjoying its biggest expansion ever. The almost 50% increase brings the total TIC program to 46 Maryland schools in eight counties and Baltimore city plus one in the District of Columbia. More than an estimated 3,000 elementary, middle school and high school children are likely to be involved with the Maryland TIC program this year.

TIC has developed in partnership with the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR). This year DNR will donate all the Kamloops rainbow trout embryos and trout food for the program. It will also issue permits for TIC schools to raise fingerlings in their classrooms and release them in designated streams. Additionally, DNR’s Aquatic Resources Education program provides extensive logistical assistance.

The new TIC program year got under way on November 12 with the annual TIC training and orientation workshop. More than 60 teachers and TIC volunteers took part, including at least one teacher from each of the 15 new schools.

Its next major event will be on January 6 when fertilized eggs and trout chow will be collected from the Albert Powell Hatchery near Hagerstown and turned over to some of the 28 volunteers who have offered to speed the embryos to all 47 schools.

This year the National Capital and Maryland TU chapters have stepped up to provide volunteer support: MDTU to six TIC schools in Baltimore County, eight in Baltimore City and one each in Anne Arundel and Harford counties and NCCTU to the District of Columbia school and one in Montgomery County.

Even more gratifying, a recent email call for volunteers to provide technical support to TIC schools resulted in positive responses from over 60 TU members throughout Maryland. Volunteer tasks include : assisting teachers with tank set-up, delivering trout eggs to TIC schools in early January, visiting schools to check on the status of their trout tanks, helping teachers to resolve emergency problems, possibly speaking with students about some aspect of cold water conservation or trout life, taking part in fingerling release programs in late April and May and helping teachers and students dismantle, clean and store their TIC equipment for future use at the end of the school year.

This expansion and support helps TIC to fulfill its mission to develop among Maryland school children the future promoters of and advocates for ensuring healthy conditions in local trout streams.

TIC is essentially a cold-water conservation and not a hatchery program. Linking students to their watersheds, TIC activities reinforce existing multidisciplinary curriculum requirements in grades three through high school. Students learn to value our natural resources through the lifecycle of the trout. Besides creating a durable understanding and appreciation of the importance of clean water, TIC also exposes children to broader themes. These include the concepts of ecosystems and watersheds, preservation and enhancement of natural resources, protection of the environment and the value of maintaining healthy populations of sport fisheries as an indicator of environmental quality. A collateral purpose is to encourage young people to enjoy sport fishing as a way to connect with nature as part of a healthy life-style. The TIC Mini Brochure (pdf format 938 KB) provides a quick overview of the program.

The 2011-12 TIC schools are: Montgomery County – Westbrook, Forest Knolls, North Chevy Chase, Ritchie Park and Greenwood elementary schools; Westland, Robert Frost, Herbert Hoover and Rocky Hill middle schools and The Barnesville School; Howard County – Hammond and Swansfield elementary schools; Burleigh Manor, Murray Hill and Oakland Mills middle schools; Carroll County – Gerstell Academy; Northwest Middle School; Frederick County – Ballenger Creek, Monocacy, New Market, Thomas Johnson, Thurmont, Urbana and Windsor Knolls middle schools; Lewistown and Orchard Grove elementary schools; Middletown, Tuscarora and Walkersville high schools, and St. John’s Regional Catholic School; Garrett County-Crellin Elementary School; Baltimore County – Boys’ Latin, Gilman, McDonogh and Odyssey schools, Lutherville Laboratory school and Hampden Elementary/Middle School; Baltimore City – Armistead Gardens, Walter P. Carter, Guilford, Hamilton, and Roland Park Elementary/Middle schools; Booker T. Washington and Woodlawn Middle Schools; Harford County – Bel Air High School; Anne Arundel County – Broadneck High School; District of Columbia – E.L. Haynes Public Charter School. The Smith Environmental Education Center in Montgomery County, Maryland, also takes part in TIC.

We welcome inquiries for further participation.

Contact:
Jim Greene
Coordinator, Maryland Trout in the Classroom
jgreene@waterwisp.com
Phone/Fax: (301) 652-3848/8224

The Following Message Was Received From the Maryland Dept. of Natural Resources

Thanks to everyone for all your help in making this another TIC success this year. We at DNR certainly feel that the program is extremely helpful as a way to educate the generation that will influence future decisions being made concerning natural resources. The program, as I see it, is the spark that will make the necessary impression on those students fortunate enough to have taken part. Their contributions by way of their trout production will be an added benefit to our local waters.

Charles R. Gougeon
Maryland DNR Fisheries Service
Manager of Regional Operations - Inland Fisheries
Tawes State Office Bldg., B-2
580 Taylor Avenue
Annapolis, Maryland 21401
410-442-2080
301-854-6060