Texas FlyFishers Trout in the Classroom Project By Matt Blyth

Trout in the Classroom is a nationwide environmental education program for children in grades K through 12. It has been in existence for over 20 years. It is run by a variety of teachers, volunteer organizations, government agencies and Trout Unlimited.  In our area it is coordinated by volunteers from the Guadalupe River chapter of TU and includes tanks in the Austin, San Antonio and Houston areas.  The project provides schools with trout eggs and the necessary equipment to raise the eggs to fry before releasing them in a local river.  The program aims to increase student knowledge of fresh water ecology and coldwater conservation issues along with attempting to reconnect urban kids with the natural world around them.  There are a total of over 4000 trout in the classroom tanks in operation all over the country. Texas Flyfishers started their involvement with the Trout in the Classroom project in early 2011 when they sponsored the installation and setup of a tank in the aquatic sciences classroom of Katy High School.  The project was run by the class teacher, Kathleen Brown and was a great success with her students and with the other teachers who regularly stopped by her classroom to check on their progress. 100 rainbow trout eggs were placed in the tank in late February and hatched out shortly afterwards.