Rome Sentinel

Trout release is educational outdoor family time for Rome pre-K class

BY MIKE JAQUAYS Staff writer

Pre-school students from Denice Luczak’s class at Clough Elementary School enjoyed a fun and educational activity Tuesday as they released trout in the stream at Guyer Field.

They’ve worked all year on the project, Luczak said, raising those small trout from eggs in the classroom and learning hands-on about their life cycles, nature and predators and prey. But the event was about a lot more than just boosting the fish population, said Trout Unlimited volunteer Gary Bartell.

“The best part is we are doing stuff outside with the kids,” Bartell, who was joined at the site by fellow Trout Unlimited volunteer Mike Commisso, explained. “This is about more than trout.”

Their families came out to the park to join the youngsters and they all enjoyed some playtime and lunch afterwards. Bartell and Luczak helped the children get a trout fingerling into their small plastic buckets — carried with both hands to the water — where Commisso awaited to help them in the stream. Many of the children were joined by their adult chaperone in the water as they tipped the bucket to let the fish swim away.

“This is so exciting — I think I was more excited than she was,” Justine Tucker of Rome said after joining her 3-year-old daughter Milani in the stream.

“It was nice coming out here.”

Luczak said the project inspires engagement from the students because of the exciting subject matter of watching the trout grow. It is very real for the kids to watch the growth of the trout themselves, Luczak said, and that is something they need at their age, she added.

Meanwhile, the kids’ own excitement is carried home with them, promoting family engagement as well, she added. “This gives the parents a real talking point with their kids,” Luczak said.

Tucker agreed.

“She learned how the trout grow and what the trout eat and came home to tell me the stories about them,” she said of sharing

Milani’s interest in the project.

Anthony Darcangelo helped daughter Sophia, 3, with her own trout release. He said it was a great day to be outside with the kids, learning about nature and learning about trout. Sophia said she enjoyed the project.

“We got to learn about how they swim,” she said.

Bartell said the project is part of Trout Unlimited’s “Trout in the Classroom” outreach and an annual tradition going back at least 15 years. It is “science without even trying,” he explained.

They started this school year with 200 eggs, and in nature, that would have yielded only four live trout surviving, he noted. Here, there were around 150 trout living in the class project, with 50 released in the stream at Guyer Field that morning.

The remaining 100 were heading to a larger class in Poland, where a power outage caused the loss of all of their own trout, Luczak said.

Clough Principal Jodi Marchione complimented Luczak for providing a real-life project for the kids that engages their families as well. “She is an outstanding teacher and very dedicated to her kids,” Marchione complimented.

Marchione noted how family time after the trout release also leads to making new friends and the planning of playdates for the summer months.

“It’s a nice way to close out the school year,” she said.

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2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-07T07:00:00.0000000Z

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