COVID-19. What should you do to be prepared? ADDITIONAL UPDATED COMMENTS PROVIDED IN ALL CAPS BELOW. Do you know anybody who's not talking about the Novel Corona virus? I don't. But what does it mean for schools in the TIC program? Two things really: (1) making sure that concern over the infection doesn't lead to toxic substances getting into your tank and (2) being prepared in the event that your school is closed because of the disease. Keeping toxic stuff out No spraying! Some schools are quite eager to spray disinfectants in classrooms when there's widespread risk of infection. Spraying would almost certainly be disastrous for your trout. Please proactively speak to anyone who might be involved in such a project, or in authorizing it, and beg them to skip your classroom. Since every school that I know of has an integrated, building-wide air-handling system, even if you succeed in convincing the "powers that be" not to spray in your classroom, your fish could still be fatally impacted by spraying elsewhere in the school. For this reason, you should be prepared to cover your tank with a blanket when and if you anticipate that there will be spraying in the building. The foam insulation alone will probably not protect your trout. The same goes for wiping classroom surfaces. Keep that practice away from your tank too! Watch those hand sanitizers! Lots of people I know are almost compulsively using hand sanitizers. Most of the time and in most settings that's a good practice, but not if you have a role in maintaining a brook trout tank. We always advise teachers and students to keep their hands out of the tank water if at all possible. If it's absolutely necessary to put your hands into the water, wash your hands well and throughly dry them before touching the tank water. The same goes for hand lotion. With all the extra hand washings, some of us are applying hand lotion more often too. Some hand lotions can be toxic for trout too, so follow the same washing and drying procedures. What about TIC schools closing? Several Vermont colleges have already announced that they're closing, perhaps for the rest of the academic year. A few schools have also decided to do that but only for a few days. It's conceivable that many Vermont schools could close for days or weeks or longer. My first suggestion would be: 1. See if you can be given access to your school during the closing. On the national TIC/SIC e-mail network, Juliette Guarino Berg asked this question Good afternoon, In the event of a building closure due to the spread of COVID-19, what are your plans for your trout program? Several helpful responses were offered. You can always count on Maryland TIC coordinator Chuck Dinkel for a response. In this case: Juliette, you could move the trout to a 5-gallon bucket with an aerator and frozen bottle of water, drain your tank, and have someone from school help you move it to your home or some other location where it could be set up and run again. Being an ex-New Yorker and your being in Manhattan, that may be easier said than done. Tanks are not something you'd want to move via the subway. IF YOU'RE HOPING TO UTILIZE THIS STRATEGY, WHICH IS A GOOD ONE, TRY TO RECRUIT ONE OR TWO BACK-UPS WHO COULD TAKE OVER FOR YOU IN THE EVENT THAT YOU GET STRICKEN. (I thank Shoreham Elementary Principal Michael Lenox for that suggestion.) 2. So, consider taking your trout home with you. Another respondent, Zachary Houle, of Taconic High School in Pittsfield, told us what his district is going to do: We have a plan where one of the teachers is going to take them home if we close. She's already brought a big tank home and set it up and will bring one of our chillers the day of, if needed. Working together! Great idea, Zachary. 3. Is there a possibility that you and several other area teachers could collaborate and all take your fish to one off-campus tank? Heather Weiss said: I was just talking to my head of school about this. In the event of a closure, I'm going to release the trout on my own and live stream it. I don't know where Heather's school is and when they started raising their trout. (Some schools began this process early in the fall, and their trout are undoubtedly much larger than those in Vermont schools.) Given how small our fish are, I'd call this a worst case option for us. 4. Finally, if none of the options offered above will work for you and if your school is going to be shut down for an extended period, you may have to release your trout prematurely. IF YOU DECIDE TO RELEASE YOUR TROUT, TWO SUGGESTIONS:
Trout Camp On a happier note, I want to bring the 10th annual Trout Camp sponsored by Vermont Trout Unlimited to your attention. Here's an announcement that TU volunteer Doug Zehner sent me. Begin a Lifetime of Fly Fishing and Learning at the Vermont Trout Camp -- June 21-25 Trout Unlimited presents the 10th annual Vermont Trout Camp for teens at Jackson’s Lodge in Canaan, VT, June 21-25, 2020. Boys and girls age 13-16 interested in science, the out-of-doors, and learning to fly fish are invited to apply. The application deadline is April 15th. Details and an application are available at www.vermonttroutcamp.com This is a marvelous opportunity for young people to experience the outdoors to the fullest. The camp program features instruction in basic and intermediate fly fishing skills (casting, knot tying, fly tying, fishing tactics), entomology, fish biology, conservation and cold water fisheries management and of course lots of time on the water fishing with knowledgeable guides. No experience is necessary, and all equipment is provided. If you know of any young person who might be interested in attending camp, please encourage them to apply. Please visit the website for details about camp or email us at [email protected] with questions. (The screenshot of the Trout Camp web site below is also a link to the site, so you can click on it.) Trout video Vasanthi Merette, of Shelburne Community School, sent me this video today. I though you might want to see what another school's fry look like these days. Thanks, Vasanthi! Photos from Bennington TU volunteer Barry Mayer sent me these photos that he took while visiting Amy Newbold's tank at the Village School of North Bennington. Since Amy set up her tank in the school's library, she's taken some precautions to make sure guests don't accidentally bump into the tank. Today Barry popped in on Emily Hunter, TIC teacher at Mount Anthony Union Middle School. Barry offered this brief report: Visited Emily’s tank this morning. Fish are all swimming up, and she’s feeding them very little at a time. Says she’s lost maybe five and chemistries have been good. Riverside Middle School checks in Joe Frigo, 7th grade science teacher at Riverside Middle School in Springfield, sent this report. Nearly all of our trout are feeding and a few have escaped from the basket and are in the tank. They've proven to be hard to catch in order to put back in the basket! We are looking forward to releasing them from the breeder baskets sometime next week. And he sent a couple of photos too. Thanks, Joe!
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Joe Mark is Lead Facilitator of Vermont's Trout in the Classroom program.In June 2012, I retired after 40 years in higher education, having spent the last 32 years of my career as dean at Castleton. One of the first things I volunteered to do in retirement was to work with a parent-friend to help the Dorset School, where his kids and my Vermont grandkids attend, start a TIC program. Gradually that commitment grew into my current role, which is both demanding and highly rewarding. Archives
December 2019
Categories |