![\"Most](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Trout-tank.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nTwo bags of tiny pink balls \u2014 trout eggs that would, within three months, become 2\u2011 to 3\u2011inch fingerlings \u2014 arrived at St. Ignatius Loyola Regional School in the second week of January.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s when the Trout in the Classroom project, an idea planted last spring, suddenly became real.<\/p>\n
For months, the 55\u2011gallon aquarium in the entryway of the Spring Township parochial school had been nothing more than a chilled tank of lifeless water. Teachers spent that time learning how to create the right conditions for trout to survive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Michelle Thomas<\/p>\n
Most of the nearly 150 trout hatched from eggs in the fish tank in St. Ignatius Loyola Regional School grew into fingerlings sturdy enough to be released into a trout-stocked waterway. (Courtesy of Michelle Thomas)<\/p>\n
\u201cIt took us about three months to learn how to get the water right with the right chemicals,\u201d first-grade teacher Michelle Thomas said. \u201cYou basically have to create a little ecosystem \u2014 getting the nitrates right, the ammonia right, everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just before the eggs arrived, the teachers added a few feeder fish to make sure the water was safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey literally sent us two bags of around 150 eggs that just looked like tiny pink balls,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cThe kids were so excited. They couldn\u2019t wait.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas learned about Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom from a friend who teaches in a public school. The interdisciplinary environmental program \u2014 open to kindergarten through 12th grade \u2014 connects students to local watersheds by raising trout from eggs to fingerlings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I heard about it, I was like, \u2018Oh, I really want to do this program,\u2019\u201d Thomas said.<\/p>\n
Building a program from the ground up<\/p>\n
The school\u2019s Home School Association purchased the chiller and other startup equipment. Thomas said the fish are free, but the specialized setup is not.<\/p>\n
Principal Emilia Ward said first, second, and third grades are participating this year. She credited Thomas and fellow teachers Jordyn Tackett and Lee Covell for doing the early research and attending the required training.<\/p>\n
The teachers divided responsibilities by grade level:<\/p>\n
\u2022 First grade learned about trout habitats, life cycles and basic needs.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Second grade practiced measurement skills by tracking the fish\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Third grade learned to test water quality, checking chemical levels and matching colors on test kits.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned a lot this year,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cNext year, our first-graders will move up already knowing the basics, so we can push the academic part further, especially into conservation and how humans affect ecosystems.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ward said the project has strengthened the school community.<\/p>\n
![\"Students](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Trout-students-observations.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Courtesy of Michelle Thomas<\/p>\n
Students at St. Ignatius Loyola Regional School record their observations of the baby trout this winter as part of the school’s participation in the Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom program. (Courtesy of Michelle Thomas)<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching their growth has been such a unique experience for our students and teachers alike,\u201d she said a week before Wednesday\u2019s release date.<\/p>\n
Students kept journals with written observations and drawings. Staff members formed an assembly line to heat\u2011press 120 T\u2011shirts for release day, featuring fish swimming in the shape of a cross under the words \u201cWe are all in the same school.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Jacob](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Trout-3rd-grade-boys.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
STEVEN HENSHAW – READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Jacob Rebilos, left, joins classmates Adam Kreitz, Christian Tiedeken and Valentino Flores, third-graders at St. Ignatius Loyola Regional School, as they arrive at Blue Marsh Lake for a field trip to release more than 120 trout fingerlings raised from eggs in an aquarium at their Spring Township school. (STEVEN HENSHAW \u2013 READING EAGLE)<\/p>\n
Some students even named individual fish.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey feel like they\u2019re more than a pet,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cWe took care of them and helped them grow. It\u2019s like we\u2019re the trout moms and they\u2019re all the trout brothers and sisters.\u201d<\/p>\n
Small fundraisers helped pay for shirts and backpacks for the field trip to Blue Marsh Lake Recreation Area. The HSA also donated aerated coolers to transport the fish.<\/p>\n
Only a few trout died \u2014 an accomplishment Thomas said is far better than what some schools experience. Still, there were tense moments. A clogged filter last weekend sent nitrate levels soaring, forcing teachers to replace much of the water by hand, bucket by bucket.<\/p>\n
Release day at Blue Marsh<\/p>\n
The final step came Wednesday \u2014 Earth Day \u2014 when students arrived at the Blue Marsh Stilling Basin in Bern Township, where water from the dam flows into Tulpehocken Creek.<\/p>\n
After Ward led a prayer asking God to provide the trout with what they need to survive, teachers in waders reached into the coolers to retrieve the fingerlings.<\/p>\n
Third\u2011graders received a fish in their palms, transferred it to a plastic cup and gently tilted it into the creek.<\/p>\n
Some of the students expressed confidence that they fish were well-prepared to transition to the adult phase.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe learned about how they get to use everything in the water for life,\u201d third grader Christian Tidedeken said.<\/p>\n
One of his classmates, Adam Kreitz, indicated their future is in their creator\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope God gives them all the food to survive and they don\u2019t get eaten by a predator,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two bags of tiny pink balls \u2014 trout eggs that would, within three months, become 2\u2011 to 3\u2011inch…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":177148,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[349,227,1131,182,139,28,128,130,129,3198,706],"class_list":{"0":"post-177147","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-reading","8":"tag-berks-county","9":"tag-education","10":"tag-environment","11":"tag-local-news","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-pennsylvania","14":"tag-reading-city","15":"tag-reading-city-headlines","16":"tag-reading-city-news","17":"tag-spring-township","18":"tag-top-stories-reg"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}