♪♪♪ Narr: It is a miracle of nature.

A lifecycle both primal and astonishing.

The journey of the salmon from egg to fully grown, from the river to the sea and back again, sparks in us both wonder and reverence.

Alia: Right now they are still fry.

As they get bigger and bigger, theyre gonna keep getting so large, theyll be smolt Narr: That wonder and reverence is sparked early in classrooms like Alia Cravens, at Dows Prairie Elementary in McKinleyville on Californias north coast.

For the past three and half months, Alia and her first graders have raised sixteen steelhead trout.

Today marks the final day of weeks of feeding, filtering the water, and watching them evolve from egg to alevin to tiny fish called fry.

Spencer: You need to feed ‘em a lot, give them fresh water... And you have to take good care of them.

Narr: Besides the attention and care, the students have learned much about the salmon's life cycle.

They've read and drawn and hung paper fish and molded clay habitats.

But tomorrow morning is the big payoff: The fish will be released into the nearby Mad River.

Charlie: It's gonna be sad, but I'm gonna be excited for them to be back into their normal habitat.

Stella: I'm happy that they're going to live a happy life, probably, and I'm sad that we have to say goodbye.

Alia: Its all about the connection for them making a connection to our wildlife, making a connection to their role in our environment and why thats important.

What role they play.

Narr: Making and strengthening that connection between students, nature and the environment, and promoting environmental stewardship early on, is a primary reason why dozens of schools and districts have programs like this one.

It all started in British Columbia in the 1970s and migrated southward to Washington, Oregon, and California a decade later.

Today, there are trout or salmon in the classroom and experiences statewide for students K through 12, with lesson plans and unique outdoor experiences customized for each grade.

Narr: The programs all receive funding through the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Most have partnerships with county water agencies and fishing organizations.

Here, the Humboldt County Office of Education works with the Blue Lake Rancheria of the Wiyot, Hupa, and Yurok tribes to bring the program to more than fifty classrooms throughout the district.

Alia: I expect it's going to be pretty high energy.

Should be a fun day.

Narr: Next morning.

Time for the steelhead to finally begin their journey home Theyre placed in a water-filled cooler.

The first graders finish their trout drawings, then everyone boards the bus for the short trip to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife hatchery alongside the Mad River.

♪♪♪ Narr: Here to meet them, Shannon Morago, STEM specialist for the County Office of Education.

Today's lesson, she says, completes the circle.

Shannon: I think it's kind of cool that it-- and amazing for... for kids that it starts outside of the classroom.

The... the fish are collected here, the eggs are collected in the hatchery, and then they're raised by the kids and then brought back here.

Alia: So, take a moment to say goodbye to your fish.

Student: Goodbye.

Alia: It is definitely bittersweet.

I love that we've had this experience together.

I'm glad that we could come to the river and release them and they get to be in their habitats.

Our classroom will feel a little empty without them.

Hazel: Now they're gone.

But they're going to have a happy life now in the river.

Shannon: And so, I think that those connections really help kids, um, become more environmentally literate, but also more conscious citizens of what's around them.

And I think that the program ties that together really beautifully.

There it goes!

There is goes!

Narr: These steelhead are an endangered species.

But on this brilliant spring day, in this river, thanks to these kids, their modest population has grown by sixteen.

Who knows how many will survive to adulthood-- to journey to the blue Pacific and back here to spawn.

But whatever their destiny, their mere existence has educated and inspired a new generation.

Alia: I think any time there's an opportunity for hands on learning where students can connect with nature, with wildlife, they can learn about it, and then take those lessons for caring for their environment, caring for wildlife... help them be stewards of the land.

♪♪♪ Narr: Depending on the school district, these aquatic education programs are called either Trout in the Classroom, Salmonids in the Classroom, or Steelhead in the Classroom.

According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, their Classroom Aquarium Education Program is available in virtually all of Californias 58 counties.

It includes teaching materials, teacher training, even trout and salmon eggs delivered to more than two-thousand California classrooms each year!