Fox Lane Middle Schoolers Release Their Trout

If you were at Leonard Park recently and noticed a bunch of Fox Lane Middle School students spread across the space at different stations, you witnessed one of the most anticipated days of seventh grade: trout release day!

Students released trout they had raised from eggs into the Kisco River, went fishing at the pond, made birdfeeders at the picnic tables near the pool house, saw birds of prey up close and personal in the gym and more.

“We started with eggs in October,” life science teacher Christine Ledrich said. “They hatched and we watched the trout develop and took note of how many survived.”

Throughout the year, seventh-grade life science teachers relate all of their units back to the trout so students can get a first-hand look at some of the things they were learning about.

On trout release day, students walked over to the Kisco River from the park and met Ledrich’s husband, who was helping out. He had pulled some stoneflies, mayflies and crayfish from the creek to show students what their trout would eat once they were in the wild.

“How often do trout eat a day?” a student asked. “They eat like three times a day at school. Will it be more or less when they’re in the stream?”

Ledrich explained that they typically eat less frequently and that a crayfish could last them a whole week.

“They’re eating a bigger meal than the pellets at school,” she said, “so it lasts longer.”

After talking about the creek and the food sources for the trout within it, it was time to release the fish. Students came up in pairs to grab a cup filled with water and trout and knelt down to let their trout swim into the creek.

Back at the pond, students did some catch-and-release fishing, an activity that many of them hadn’t done before.

“That was my first time fishing,” one student said. “It was good—I caught one!”

“We caught a stick,” another laughed.

In the gym with the birds of prey, students were silent and transfixed as the presenter talked to them about the birds he brought. He told them that the turkey vulture he had with him had imprinted on him as a baby. When it was young, the vulture thought he was its mom. Now that the vulture is 27 years old, it thinks he’s its mate and will make nests around him, trying to coax him into laying an egg.

With beautiful weather and a day spent outside exploring nature, it was a great day.