Trout in the Classroom

The Trout in the Classroom (TIC) program, multiplied from the 81 schools statewide to 173 schools statewide. The expansion would not have been possible without the PCSRF funding. Approximately 21,000 students participated in TIC learning about gyotaku fish printing, fish dissection, luck of the draw genetics, fishing, habitat health stream assessment and fish life classes, and conservation for steelhead, kokanee, rainbow trout and cutthroat trout. Teachers provided sixty minutes of class time per three months for each of the participating schools. Idaho Department of Fish and Game visited the participating schools and gave a total of 519 lessons throughout the life of the project.

Each year in January or February depending on location and species the eggs and/or fry are delivered to the schools and the IDFG staff and volunteers present TIC lessons throughout the fish growing season between December and May.

A total of 22, four hour workshops (training) were conducted for new teachers in the following regions: Panhandle Coeur d Alene, Clearwater/Lewiston, McCall, Southwest Idaho Nampa, Magic Valley Jerome, Southeast Pocatello, Upper Snake Idaho Falls and Salmon. Aquarium equipment was distributed at the workshops.

A total of nine schools were granted funds for field trips to release the TIC fish in a local water body. The fish release was done in April or May (each year of the project) with a Idaho Department of Fish and Game release permit.

Other partners in this project included the support from a sport fish and restoration grant, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Forest Service Bureau of Land Management, Department of Environmental Quality, and Trout Unlimited.

Trout in the Classroom is a unique program designed to expose students to long-term learning about Idaho trout, salmon and steelhead. Students and teachers participating gain personal ownership and greater understanding of these fish, their life cycle and the aquatic environment in which they live. Students will travel to a local aquatic ecosystem and experience first-hand what components make healthy fish habitat.