By Mark Maffitt
Trout In the Classroom is a program that offers students a chance raise trout in a classroom setting and then release them into a nearby stream. As we all know, trout need cold water. To get trout to thrive in a classroom requires chillers to generate the cold water that they require. Unfortunately, chillers equipped with pumps are so expensive as to be beyond the budget of most school programs.
In 2023, Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited helped start a Trout in the Classroom project at the Sun Prairie High Schools by donating the funds to purchase their chiller equipment. Since students are bound to learn a conservation ethic as they care for and nurture the trout, this was a project that we were delighted to support.
Thanks to the efforts of teacher Josh Capodarco, the program was a smashing success. The students successfully raised trout fry supplied to them by the DNR and they kept them growing and thriving through the summer. They wound up with a couple hundred fingerlings that were ready for release this fall. Along the way, they learned about water chemistry, the water cycle, and the importance of habitat conservation.
On Tuesday October 15th, the TIC students held a Trout Release party at the Token Creek Conservancy. Mitchell Trow of the Wisconsin DNR led a team that performed an electroshocking demonstration of Token Creek for the Students prior to releasing the fish. This also gave the students a chance to walk the banks of a trout stream and learn what this is all about.
The festivities continued at Token Creek County Park where a group of SWTU volunteers held a special session of our Riversmith Casting Clinic. The group of 30+ students had the chance to learn how to cast a fly rod, what kind of gear is required and to interact with and identify the aquatic insects that Mike Miller had on display for them. Thanks are due to all of our volunteer instructors: Don Golembiewski, Henry Haugley, Mark Maffitt, Michael Miller, Jim Obrien, Topf Wells and Loren Ziglin
We all owe Josh Capodarco a debt of gratitude for pioneering TIC in southern Wisconsin. He took the initiative to lead students in an unusual learning experience that could very well produce our next generation of conservation professionals. He also had to do a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work navigating through the red tape required to acquire trout fry from the DNR. Then he had to learn how to grow trout in an aquarium. None of this is easy, but he persevered. The trout from the project are now swimming in Token Creek, and there are a whole bunch of Sun Prairie kids that are jazzed about that.
(Photos courtesy chapter member Loren Ziglin and Sun Prairie teacher Josh Capodarco.)
Trout In the Classroom: The Future is Bright
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Last Updated: November 4, 2024 by Drew Kasel
By Mark Maffitt
Trout In the Classroom is a program that offers students a chance raise trout in a classroom setting and then release them into a nearby stream. As we all know, trout need cold water. To get trout to thrive in a classroom requires chillers to generate the cold water that they require. Unfortunately, chillers equipped with pumps are so expensive as to be beyond the budget of most school programs.
In 2023, Southern Wisconsin Trout Unlimited helped start a Trout in the Classroom project at the Sun Prairie High Schools by donating the funds to purchase their chiller equipment. Since students are bound to learn a conservation ethic as they care for and nurture the trout, this was a project that we were delighted to support.
Thanks to the efforts of teacher Josh Capodarco, the program was a smashing success. The students successfully raised trout fry supplied to them by the DNR and they kept them growing and thriving through the summer. They wound up with a couple hundred fingerlings that were ready for release this fall. Along the way, they learned about water chemistry, the water cycle, and the importance of habitat conservation.
On Tuesday October 15th, the TIC students held a Trout Release party at the Token Creek Conservancy. Mitchell Trow of the Wisconsin DNR led a team that performed an electroshocking demonstration of Token Creek for the Students prior to releasing the fish. This also gave the students a chance to walk the banks of a trout stream and learn what this is all about.
The festivities continued at Token Creek County Park where a group of SWTU volunteers held a special session of our Riversmith Casting Clinic. The group of 30+ students had the chance to learn how to cast a fly rod, what kind of gear is required and to interact with and identify the aquatic insects that Mike Miller had on display for them. Thanks are due to all of our volunteer instructors: Don Golembiewski, Henry Haugley, Mark Maffitt, Michael Miller, Jim Obrien, Topf Wells and Loren Ziglin
We all owe Josh Capodarco a debt of gratitude for pioneering TIC in southern Wisconsin. He took the initiative to lead students in an unusual learning experience that could very well produce our next generation of conservation professionals. He also had to do a tremendous amount of behind-the-scenes work navigating through the red tape required to acquire trout fry from the DNR. Then he had to learn how to grow trout in an aquarium. None of this is easy, but he persevered. The trout from the project are now swimming in Token Creek, and there are a whole bunch of Sun Prairie kids that are jazzed about that.
(Photos courtesy chapter member Loren Ziglin and Sun Prairie teacher Josh Capodarco.)
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