Overbrook Students Raise & Release Baby Trout into the Wild

From tiny eggs to baby fish, the students at Overbrook Elementary School in East Haven have nurtured a small population of brown trout for nine months. 

On June 10, they released their little babies into a clean, flowing river at North Farms State Park in North Branford, wishing them "farewell."

They even wrote a special song for the event. Click here to listen. 

Diane Gallitto, principal of the school, said the project was possible due to the generosity of the CT Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and the school's PTO. 

"The DEEP gave us the eggs and all the information we needed to raise them, and the PTO donated the tank," she said. 

Gallitto called it an "exciting, school-wide project that helped to repopulate the depleted numbers of brown trout in this area by raising them in Mrs. Linda Peterson's first grade classroom." 

Four hundred "eyed-eggs" were delivered in September, noted the principal.

"Over the course of this school year, students in all classrooms observed and learned how to maintain a healthy aquatic habitat for the fish. They also learned about fish life cycles and the concept of predator vs. prey," said Gallitto. "Another important concept learned was how humans directly impact wildlife."

The students spent the morning at the park singing the "Bye Bye Trout" song, having a snack, hiking a short jaunt to the riverbed, and witnessing their teacher, Linda Peterson, releasing the baby trout into the river.