WOODLAND — The small school of fish that came to the Woodland Consolidated School a couple months ago have recently been sent out to stream, after being nurtured and attended to by members of Sandy Swan’s fifth- and sixth-grade class.
Contributed photo
Students of Sandy Swan’s fifth- and sixth-grade class released their little Atlantic salmon into the Little Madawaska River on April 22. Students saying good-bye to their fishy friends were, from left, front row: Grace Schmitt, Alexis Parker, Zakkary Tracey, Ghent Durepo, Hollie McDougal and Zoe Jones. Back row: Julia Dahlgren, Marin Moir, Delano Littleton, Josh Oslund, Andrew Driscol, Dillon Philbrook, Brant Trombley, Monica McLaughlin, Wyatt Taggett and Donald Love. Absent from the event was McKenzie Rossignol.
The fishes’ release into the wild was bittersweet for some students, who were both sad that their aquatic friends would no longer be living in the classroom and happy they could live free lives and hopefully make it to the ocean.
This was the first year that Swan’s class participated in the Fish Friends program through which Atlantic salmon eggs were brought into the classroom to be raised by students, but retired fifth-grade teacher at the Woodland school John Bougie has been participating in the Maine Council of the Atlantic Salmon Federation’s Fish Friends program for many years.
His know-how and experience rearing the baby fish was much appreciated by Swan and her class, as were the efforts of other volunteers like Fish Friends Coordinator Alyson Saunders, Jim Thompson and the school’s nighttime custodian Phil Bishop.
“The [students] did a great job taking care of the fish,” Swan said. “[Fish Friends] is a nice program that supplements what we do in the classroom.”
The fish, just little eyed-eggs when they arrived to the classroom, proved themselves to be a hearty group.
“There were setbacks that would have killed many of these little guys,” Swan said, including a cracked tank that caused an emergency late-night tank transfer from a 20-gallon tank to a 10-gallon one.
In addition to the close living quarters, the tank’s cooler shut off for a night, causing the temperature to rise by 20 degrees.
“This actually caused them to mature early,” Swan explained, but overall, with less than 30 deaths, the group proved themselves to be very hearty.
By the time the Woodland students released their almost grown up fishes into the Little Madawaska River from the Stockholm boat landing on April 22, they were far from the “little balls with eyes” that Thompson first delivered to the students; many of the fish had already sloughed their belly sacks — which Swan said meant they would suffocate and/or starve had they not been released into the stream.
Before the students could release the fish into the stream, they had to learn about the ecosystem and the fishes’ growing process so that they weren’t released too early or too late.
As the Woodland students enjoy doing their part to help out the community, like their dedication to the classroom recycling program which helps keep the town clean, Swan says that Fish Friends is another way for students to give back to the community and to Maine.
She explained that since the Woodland students put the fish in the Little Madawaska River, when it’s time for the adult salmon to spawn they’ll return to the very same spot.
“It’s helping Maine’s natural resources regenerate and flourish,” Swan said. “We look forward to doing it next year.”
Additional information about Fish Friends can be found by visiting https://fishfriends.wikispaces.com.
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| Contributed photo Joshua Oslund takes a look at the Atlantic salmon eggs that were raised by students of Woodland’s fifth- and sixth-grade class. |
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| Contributed photo Helping their fish friends adjust to the temperature of the Little Madawaska River on April 22 were, from left, Julia Dahlgren, Zakkary Tracy and Marin Moir. |
