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Salmon stay in local classrooms

Popular program, being cut elsewhere in the state, saved by Clark Public Utilities, other donors

By Howard Buck
Published: February 14, 2011, 12:00am
2 Photos
Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School teacher Katie Ronning gives her third graders a lesson in the life cycle of salmon.
Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School teacher Katie Ronning gives her third graders a lesson in the life cycle of salmon. Students will see about 250 juvenile salmon grow in a chilled water tank, then help release them to a local stream this spring -- an annual exercise at more than 50 Clark County schools. Photo Gallery

For thousands of Washington children each year, they’ve been welcome, wiggly schoolmates.

Small fry — in the literal sense — and unhatched eggs that regenerate the signature species of the Pacific Northwest.

We’re talking about salmon, of course: Thousands of fingerlings and eggs delivered to chilled water tanks in elementary schools, giving young students a tangible grasp of nature.

New budget cuts adopted in Olympia eliminate state funding of the popular Salmon in the Classroom program, however.

No longer will the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife bankroll a two-decade effort that had grown to reach nearly 500 schools and 40,000 students across the state. In their December special session, legislators agreed to pull the plug and save $110,000 through June and $442,000 in the following two years.

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The good news for more than 50 Clark County schools?

About 9,000 engaged students won’t see any change, because Clark Public Utilities and donors will continue to bankroll the program here, with modest WDFW assistance.

“We’re happy to provide that for the children of Clark County. That will not change,” said Lena Wittler, utility spokeswoman. This year’s cost is $55,013, a very thin slice of a $373 million electric system budget.

The Clark-Skamania Fly Fishers donate annually and other groups chip in, too. Program leaders expect no problem for local WDFW managers to obtain needed permits to supply fish and eggs from Lewis and Washougal river hatcheries — about 12,500 eggs were shipped in January — at virtually no cost.

“It’s really a great program,” said Don Nissen, who teaches advanced third- and fourth-graders at Vancouver’s Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary School. “Having our salmon here really impacts the entire population.”

Nissen said he was shocked to read about loss of the program in Seattle schools. It meshed so well with classes that instructors there wrote a guidebook. “One of the teachers said, ‘This is the cornerstone of my educational experience,’ ” he said.

And yet, Roosevelt received about 250 coho salmon eggs last month, same as always. As did nearly all other Clark County grade schools, through outreach by the Columbia Springs environmental education center in southeast Vancouver, contracted by Clark Public Utilities to administer the salmon program.

The yearly January egg delivery follows an autumn supply of roughly year-old fingerlings. In both cases, the fish ultimately are released in local streams, with students actively involved.

During the months between, students monitor their progress, studying the life cycle of stream, ocean, returning to spawn, and death. The salmon inspire math lessons, writing exercises, journal-keeping and art. They’re the focal point of science lessons and habitat restoration along Burnt Bridge Creek, Salmon Creek and other local waterways.

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“Our entire fifth-grade science curriculum revolves around Burnt Bridge Creek,” Nissen said. Besides the fish, students study turbidity, acid levels and habitat along the creek.

“An amazing amount of students are being influenced by that,” Nissen said. “It’s bigger than the salmon. But salmon are the foundation of it.”

Younger children are often entranced.

“They name these fish in their tanks — I swear, they all have names,” said Laura Nappi, director of Columbia Springs’ Salmon in the Classroom program, who brings her own “passion” for the science outreach.

“Many of the tanks are in the hallway, and the whole school gets involved,” Nappi said. “When (students) see the eggs hatch, it’s an ‘Ah’ moment. It’s not like something you can read in a book. When you see the life cycle and help release them, you truly understand the life cycle of salmon.”

Indeed, when the newest batch of eggs hatched two weekends ago, Sarah J. Anderson Elementary School pupils quickly clambered for a peek at the tiny fish, each feeding on its own embryo sac.

“We do an after-school program and, sure enough, all five kids had to come over and check them out” the following Monday afternoon, said third-grade teacher Katie Ronning, whose lesson plans rely heavily on the salmon.

With outdoor school sessions previously scrapped, and looming budget cuts threatening even simple field trips to Columbia Springs or other natural areas, the salmon-rearing carries even more weight.

“It’s a lot deeper than just cutting a tank, and saying let’s do it next year. I called Laura and said, ‘Can we keep this tank?’ I’d be willing to pay what it takes to do this,’ ” Nissen said. “I think it’s that important to these kids.”

Howard Buck: 360-735-4515 or howard.buck@columbian.com.

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