Deer Park® Trout in the Classroom program celebrates 10 years in Pennsylvania school district

For the 10th year, Deer Park® Natural Spring Water has partnered with Northwestern Lehigh School District in New Tripoli to sponsor the Trout in the Classroom program in Pennsylvania.

Throughout the school year, students are introduced to the importance of ecosystems, watershed conservation efforts, habitats, natural resources and management strategies to protect and enhance cold water environments.  

In January 2024, 166 students from two seventh grade science classrooms began raising rainbow trout from eggs to fingerlings.

During the release day, students not only released trout, but they also collected macroinvertebrates from the creek, identified and indexed the macros, engaged in an animal wildlife presentation accompanied by a tame skunk, and enjoyed a scavenger hunt in Ontelaunee Park.

To assist in the release, the students were accompanied by three naturalists from the Wildlands Conservancy and a conservation officer from the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission.

BlueTriton Brand Springs Specialist David Dennis coordinates closely with the school district to provide aquarium equipment and technical support throughout the school year. David attended the trout release day event to assist students as they released the trout into the creek. 

“Being part of the Trout in the Classroom program for a decade has really opened my eyes to the impacts we can have on the next generation of water stewards,” said David Dennis, BlueTriton Brand Springs Specialist. “I’ve listened to so many great observations about stream quality and aquatic life from students given this opportunity to engage outside the traditional classroom setting. TIC has enabled me to make a difference in the communities where I work and recreate.”

Another Pennsylvania school district, the Eastern Lebanon County School District in Myerstown also participates in Trout in the Classroom.

Eastern Lebanon County School District celebrated their seventh release day event in May 2024.

Middle school students released dozens of fingerlings into Mill Creek in May. The trout release occurs in Mill Creek, a thriving headwater stream immediately downstream from the company’s Newmanstown Spring site. BlueTriton Brands, the company that owns Deer Park®, strategically manages the buffer zones of this stream, which prevents streambank erosion and moderates the temperatures of the stream to provide a more suitable environment for aquatic life.

The program is also made possible by a unique partnership between the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited and the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.