Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery hosted a trout based education event. Fannin County Middle School teacher Althea Goble brought two hundred sixth graders out to learn all about trout. The kids were divided up into 16 groups and all the groups visited 8 stations. Each station taught the kids a different aspect about trout or fishing. The Blue Ridge Mountain Chapter of Trout Unlimited taught the kids how to cast a fly rod and took them fishing in the creek. The Chattahoochee/Nantahala Chapter of Trout Unlimited (also members of the Friends of Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery group) showed the kids how to tie flies. Emily Owenby, Nootootla Farms, taught the kids about macroinvertebrates found in the creek and the importance of them in the creeks. Tiffany Penland, Georgia Department of Natural Resources, taught the kids about trout anatomy and did some dissections of brown trout with them. The crew of the hatchery took the kids on a tour of the hatchery and showed what goes on at the hatchery. Two of the middle school teachers, Chris Farr and Nathan Dean, taught the kids about water chemistry by testing water from the creek. Motor Vehicle Operator Charles Hood taught the kids about the life cycle of the trout starting with eggs, they then moved out to Deputy Project Leader Joseph Helseth and Animal Caretaker Jamey Mull who taught them about feeding, sample counts, and distribution of the trout into North Georgia waters. Project Leader Kelly Taylor had the kids create their own fish. The kids had to draw the fish, name the fish, tell where it lived, tell what it ate and then present their fish to the rest of the group. Group members and Project Leader Taylor then asked them questions about their fish that they weren’t necessarily told to think about. This opened up discussion about fish facts in nature. Mrs. Goble and Project Leader Taylor are talking about making this an annual event for the school.
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