Trout Unlimited Raises Funds for “Trout in the Classroom” Program
Megan Plete Postol 02.18.25
A group of dedicated fly anglers in upstate New York have hatched a plan to fundraise for Trout in the Classroom, an immersive educational program that connects students with their local watersheds. Trout in the Classroom is a Trout Unlimited environmental education program that serves as a gateway stewardship experience that fosters a new generation of advocates for salmonids, the family of ray-finned fish that includes trout, salmon, char, graylings, and select others, and the watersheds in which these fish live.
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The program involves setting up a specialized aquarium in the classroom in which students witness the early stages of the trout life cycle, starting at the egg stage, and following through the transformation from eggs, to alevin, to fingerlings. State hatcheries provide the eggs. Students from grade school to college experience hands-on learning about the life cycle, habitat, and the importance of clean water for indicator species like trout. Students raise and learn about the trout from egg to fry and then release them on a field trip in local waters.
The first step in this program, however, is to secure fundraising sources. Often, local volunteer groups organize events, hold raffles, or utilize a combination, such as in the CNY Fly Tying Symposium and Outdoor Celebration, to be held Sunday March 23, from 11am to 6pm at Harts Hill Inn, Whitesboro New York.
The symposium will feature more than 20 advanced fly tyers sharing their favorite local patterns and tying tips, presentations by local experts including White Dog Outdoors, Bernie Hiney IFGA World Fishing, Upstate Guide Service, and a mix of exhibitors that includes both sporting businesses and non-profit organizations, including artist and author Mark Usyk, JP Ross Fly Rods, Nash Fly Works, TU, Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust and others. The event is designed whole to be fun for the whole family, opening up fishing opportunities in the central New York region and chock full of information about fly tying, a fun and rewarding aspect of the fly-fishing experience.
The symposium, which is sponsored by master fly rod maker and equipment retailer JP Ross Fly Rods, will also have bucket raffles for outdoor fishing gear, including a canoe, fly rod, and a float trip, plus other raffle prizes for the non-fisherman too. A hot buffet dinner banquet will cap the event from 4:00 to 5:30. The cost of the dinner is $40.00 per person.
All raffle proceeds will benefit the Mohawk Valley Trout Unlimited “Trout in the Classroom” program. There are currently over 20 participating schools in the Mohawk Valley region with additional classrooms planned each year. The fund-raising goal for the CNY Fly Tying Symposium and Outdoor Celebration is $3000, earmarked for additional equipment for the Trout in the Classroom program in local classrooms. Anyone with questions can contact the Mohawk Valley Trout Unlimited chapter here: mohawkvalleytu@gmail.com.
