SCHOOL OF FISH

In 1994, eight-year old Onekama Elementary School student Kellen Story wrote the following: “When the day came for me to step into the third grade classroom, I thought, Boy, I wonder what Mr. Hughes will be like: mean, funny, or just a plain teacher? He was better than all of those. He was very funny and interested in fishing. Then, about three weeks into the year, we got a bundle of salmon eggs from the DNR.”

That “bundle of salmon eggs” was the launch of the Salmon in the Classroom project through the Michigan Department of Natural Resources; it was also the start of something big for Onekama students.

Salmon in the Classroom is an established and comprehensive program developed by the Michigan DNR that teaches students about the state's freshwater resources through interactive, hands-on learning. This instrumental learning experience allows students the opportunity to raise, care for, and maintain salmon in their classroom from Fall until Spring. The program culminates at the end of the school year with the release of the young fish into a local watershed that feeds one of the Great Lakes.

The program was brought to Onekama School by then third grade teacher Kevin Hughes. When Mr. Hughes became elementary principal (today, he serves as Superintendent), the project was taken over by teacher Sally Catanese as part of the third grade science curriculum.

This month, Onekama third grade students loaded on a school bus for their trip to the weir on the Little Manistee River. They watched the salmon swim, listened to DNR fisheries personnel explain the role of the weir, and learned how eggs are taken from the adult salmon. At the end of visit, the class was given some eggs to take back to their classroom fish tank.
The trip marked the seventeenth year Onekama Elementary School has participated in this unique program. A full chronicle of the past sixteen years of Onekama School’s involvement in Salmon in the Classroom is available on the school’s website: http://www.onekama.k12.mi.us/e2011/Mrs.Catanese/October/Salmon.Weir.Trip.htm 

As part of their science curriculum, Onekama students have the opportunity to raise salmon from eggs, watch them grow, and then release them into Bowen Creek in May. During the course of the school year, the students learn about the Great Lakes ecosystem, the lifecycle of salmon, and fisheries management.

“It was a cool field trip, and I learned a lot about salmon,” said third grade student Sydnee Hrachovina. “The funniest part was when Dalron kissed one of the fish, but the best part will be watching the salmon grow in our fish tank.”

The salmon won’t be the only thing growing in Mrs. Catanese’s science class this year. Thirty young minds are eager, too, to begin on this exciting journey.