In
1999, Jeff Yates, chapter secretary, but back then a senior in the school and just a few years into
full-time membership in Trout Unlimited, began a Senior Interest
Project to build a trout hatchery in Wilton High School. Along with Jim
Lucey, a science teacher at the school, Jeff researched the
specifications of a hatchery while Mr. Lucey developed a corresponding
curriculum for the project.
After the research was done, the project
was pitched to the Mianus Chapter and to the school administration,
earning approval for development. The Mianus Chapter and the schools
split the $4,000 bill to build the hatchery system, with the chapter
signing on to provide volunteer support year-round as well as a
financial contribution to the water filtration system.
Nearly one
decade later, the hatchery, now run by AP Environmental Science teacher
Jim Hunter, has brought real world ecology into the classroom for more
than 300 students. Each year the students raise more than 100 trout
from eyed eggs to fry, releasing them as school lets out into the
Norwalk River.
The hatchery program is currently looking to expand
to include a second tank, and has spawned a number of other projects
tied to river ecology and water quality which brings students out of
the classroom and into nature.
The Mianus Chapter also ran for a number of years an Atlantic Salmon hatchery in the Greenwich public schools. Upon the retirement of teacher Ray Hamilton, a Mianus TU member, the program was put on hold.
In recent months the chapter has been in talks to restart the Greenwich program with a new teacher, and has been looking at expanding trout hatcheries into the New Canaan school system.
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| Students at Wilton High School transport trout from the hatchery for release into the Norwalk River. |
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| The trout are moved to a small cooler for transport. |
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| The young trout are then released into the Norwalk River. |
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