Trout released into Little Fishing Creek

After several months of raising trout, students from Jen Lifsitz’s seventh grade science class at Bellefonte Area Middle School had the opportunity to finally release them in Little Fishing Creek. It was all part of a project called Trout in the Classroom.

Lifsitz said her class was donated 149 trout eggs by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. As part of extracurricular and class lessons, students then watched them hatch and grow in a large classroom fish tank, while working to keep the fish healthy by feeding them and monitoring water levels for things such as pH, nitrite levels and more.

On the morning of May 13, the students, along with students from teacher Jeff Rager’s life skills class, took a field trip to Snydertown to release the trout in a nearby creek. They also observed other species native to the creek and held discussions about the project.

The program is made possible through a partnership with the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, and is supported by the state Department of Education.