My name is Tim Whitley. I am the energy and water education specialist for the Eugene
4J School District. Our salmon education efforts are focused on having students learn about
local ecosystems where the salmon have evolved, also the life cycle and biology of the salmon.
We also spend time providing our students with experiences in the field, outdoor experiences
so they can actually see salmon. Salmon education is important because the health of salmon
populations is reflected in the health of our rivers and we really want the students
to be aware of what actions humans do that has an effect on salmon populations. Eweb
supports salmon education through their education grants to the local school districts. Those
grants that are given by Eweb to the 4J School District go towards purchasing aquariums and
supplies for raising the fish, providing for buses and transportation for the field trips,
30 different schools and 53 teachers raising salmon, 18 full-day salmon watching field trips.
That involved over 1,000 students, 5,500 fish released, 15 high school students trained to
lead activities so that's just kind of a summary or overview of what we accomplished this year.
Eweb's support of salmon education is important to us because the teachers and their students
really look forward to participating in the salmon education activities.
I'm Joy McKee. I'm a water and energy educator. I would like to share a letter from Madison,
a fifth grader. She says salmon are a keystone species and everyone should learn just how
very important they are. Raising salmon is a great experience everyone should have. It includes
learning biology, ecology and even some chemistry. For 10 years Eweb has been funding the salmon
education program teaching children about salmon and the environment. I have participated in the
salmon education program and I really love it. This program also makes me feel more aware of
the environment and what we are as humans doing to it. I hope that future generations get to
experience what I experienced. Thank you. This program helps students be aware about our natural
resources so we provide students with a curriculum produced by the City of Eugene and also a curriculum
on from fish eggs to fry that's produced by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Part of the
process involves field trips and so we take students to several locations in the local
watershed. The salmon field trips are the most popular part of our program. Kids really look
forward to that. These salmon field trips are scheduled in the fall and about two classrooms
or 60 students come on each field trip. Each group rotates through three to five different
activities including activities that simulate salmon returning to their spawning grounds,
looking at macroinvertebrates in the stream. My favorite part of the salmon education program
is actually seeing a wild salmon. It's fascinating they get to really see the real hands-on experience
of the animals in the wild. Then they get to take that back into their classroom and the thing I
think is phenomenal about the classroom program is that they get to grow the eggs and they're just
sitting at the desk a few feet away from their eggs and every day they look at the eggs and they
watch them change and grow. Each classroom gets an aquarium and the equipment for the aquarium. We
deliver about a hundred fertilized eggs from the McKinsey salmon hatchery to each classroom and the
students monitor the growth and development of those eggs as they turn into fry. They measure the
water quality on a weekly basis. Finally when the fish have grown and are ready for release then we
provide a bus and the classes take their fish to Alton Baker Park where they're met by some adults
and also some trained high school leaders and they do a couple activities at the release site
culminating with the release of their salmon and each student expressing a fish wish. Something
that they would like to happen to their fish that they've raised and watched grow. It might be
something like I wish my fish makes it all the way out to the ocean or even all the way back and
spawns as an adult. We're releasing our salmon and we're on the birds watching them. I'm sad the
salmon are leaving but it's okay. I have a safe journey and hopefully make it back. This program
helps students in their future in a variety of ways. One thing it does is increases their
awareness of environmental issues sometimes complex environmental issues teaches them critical
thinking skills. It also provides a foundation of scientific knowledge and it inspires students
to maybe study other living organisms or look into other social issues like the salmon issue.
Cat is fly, it's food for the fry. If they get hatch on, they're gonna die. Kingfishers,
herons and eagles agree while eating the salmon on the way to the sea.
