Cedar Mountin participates in Trout program
Cedar Mountain Primary School in Vernon once again participated in the Trout in the Classroom program co-sponsored by New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife and Trout Unlimited. On a recent sunny Saturday morning, 51 kindergarten and first grade students and their siblings, along with assorted parents and grandparents and several former Cedar Mountain students, released 46 rainbow trout fry into Wawayanda Creek in beautiful Vernon Valley. The fish were raised from eggs received in October 2018 in a specially chilled tank in the school’s artroom.
All of the school’s students enjoyed watching the fish develop. The first grade students practiced their observational drawing skills as they created books illustrating the stages of development that they witnessed in the tank.
At the release event, students showed off what they had learned about the trout during the year. A display set up at the site included examples of the artwork that students had created as they participated in this activity that merged the subjects of science, language arts and visual art.
The program at Cedar Mountain School has been coordinated for the past nine years by art teacher Denise Docherty with the assistance of district physical therapist Joseph Janus. Also integral to the success of the release event each year are high school physical education teacher Mr. Todd Piontkowski and his daughter Kierstin.
Cedar Mountain teachers who volunteered to assist at the release were Lois Battista and Laurie Nelson.
Also in attendance were Cedar Mountain teachers Sherry Polhemus and Maureen Sweeney, and Board of Education member Joseph Sweeney.