Blacklick Valley students take education outdoors
NANTY GLO, Pa. – Blacklick Valley High School students took their education outside Friday to learn about fly fishing, macroinvertebrates, herpetology, birding and stream habitats around Stewart Run in State Game Lands 79.
Sophomore Mackenzee Palko appreciated the Trout in the Classroom program experience.
“I, myself, love science,” she said. “I think it’s really important for everybody to know ... about science.”
Palko also noted the significance of getting the next generation involved in the outdoors.
That’s why Blacklick Valley technology education teacher and Trout in the Classroom program adviser Shane Rudnik started the offering in 2015.
“I like to pass on what I learned growing up,” he said.
Rudnik said getting outside is a good change of pace for the 51 students, and the hands-on education helps reinforce what they learn in the classroom.
“A lot goes into it, and there’s a lot that comes out of it as well,” he said.
In addition to the outdoor excursion, the students raised 39 rainbow trout in the classroom this year that were released Friday into Stewart Run.
After that, the cohort of freshmen, sophomores and juniors were broken into groups of five to participate in five activity stations.
One of those stations was run by Adam Cotchen, a watershed scientist with the Western Pennsylvania Conservancy. He introduced the students to habitat evaluation by talking about the different types of stream beds, the speed of the water and areas for fish to find shelter.
Their peers were nearby with Brandywine Conservancy representative Melissa Reckner, who was having them use a fine-screened net to collect macroinvertebrates for study.
Junior Collin Nixon was having fun, he said, kicking up debris from the creek bed while sophomore Connor Altimus stood downstream to collect anything that was dislodged.
Within minutes, the pair found a crayfish measuring about two inches long.
Nixon participated in the program last year at Lake Rowena in Ebensburg, and for Altimus, this was his first experience.
Altimus said it was “pretty cool to learn about different insects” and how they impact the environment.
