Salmon in the schools at Ridgecrest Elementary

From the Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation

The Lake Forest Park Stewardship Foundation is proud to sponsor a new salmon tank at Ridgecrest Elementary School. This adds a new site to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (DFW) program of "Salmon in the Schools," and supplements the existing programs coordinated by Diana Bettelli at Lake Forest Park Elementary, and Katie Johnson at Brookside Elementary.

This expands the reach of the Salmon in the Schools to a third school in our watershed. Liz Whitney's fifth grade students, about half of whom come from LFP, are sponsoring the tank at Ridgecrest. Like their counterparts at LFP and Brookside Elementary Schools, the children keep the tank clean, and check temperature and pH daily, all the while learning about the fragile ecosystem which sustains the salmon eggs in their natural habitat- our streams and wetlands.

Coho eggs arrived with the new year, delivered by long time volunteer, Jim Siscel.

Jim is a former teacher who has shepherded many programs in schools throughout the area. He was ably assisted by Foundation Board member and former caretaker of the LFP Elementary program, Rick Purn.

Equipment has been historically provided by Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, though funding resources for the program have become extremely strained in recent years. Through Jim's successful scavenging of equipment and the transfer of equipment from Brookside Elementary to the Ridgecrest program, the system has been brought up and running with funds from the Foundation and supplemented by the Ridgecrest PTA.

Many thanks to Principals Kathryn Noble at Brookside, Cinco Delgado at Ridgecrest, and Aimee Miner at LFP Elementary for their help coordinating. 

The "new" tank sits in the Ridgecrest lobby for all to enjoy. Stop by and check it out. The students will be happy to share their excitement as they eagerly await the first egg's hatching.

Photos courtesy of the LFP Stewardship Foundation