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The success of the TIC program can be attributed to the combined effort of several organizations and many individuals dedicated to the environment. During the early part of the year and ongoing into the Summer and Fall months, Jessica Griglak, NJ Division of Fish and Wildlife, Resource Interpretive Specialist, was working on gathering new schools for the TIC Program.
During the sign-up process, she was also organizing the training for the new teachers. As the sign-up process was being finalized, Jessica informed the TU chapters which schools would be part of the program for the new school year as well as which schools would be assigned to each chapter of TU. As the TU Chapters reviewed the list of schools, they confirmed which chapter could best service each of the schools. Thanks to the efforts of many individuals, the NJ TIC program has expanded from 80 to 103 schools for 2009-2010 school year. Some estimate that there will be at least 20,000 students in NJ impacted by the program this year.
At JSTU, we identified 23 schools that we would be responsible for. This included several new schools in the area, while some schools that we were servicing during the past year were switched to other TU Chapters. We now have students participating in the program ranging from the third grade to college. There are also kindergarten classes that contain a TIC tank this year.
As the "Egg Delivery Day" was approaching, I was contacted by Karen Rowe, Education Coordinator and Holly Posna both from the Freehold Soil Conservation District. They volunteered to be of assistance for several schools that they help support in the JSTU area. This was followed-up with support from Christine Raabe, Education Outreach Specialist for the Ocean County Soil Conservation District. Christine had several styrofoam containers that she offered us for the transfer of the eggs. Terry O'Leary from the FREC also provided support by assisting with the transfer of the containers.
The day finally arrived for the official start of another season for TIC. It began bright and early on October 21, when I (Ken Devory) met with Duane Lloyd and headed up to the Pequest Trout Hatchery to pick up the trout eggs. The distribution of eggs and support material were well organized. Within an hour, we had packed up the car and were ready for the ride to our distribution location on the GS Parkway. As we arrived, we met up with Holy Posna and Tim Thomas from the Freehold Soil Conservation District, and Jim McCaffrey, Art Ehrmantraut, and Colin Archer from JSTU. The fish eggs were quickly transferred into the coolers and the bags of fish food with additional information for the teachers was distributed. We then departed from our meeting place and went to our assigned schools. We delivered the eggs to 23 locations for 24 tanks (one school has 2 tanks). Everyone was greeted by the teachers and students, who were anxious to get started. The students were ready to start the process of raising the fish by removing the unfertilized eggs - which were white.
Every tank received approximately 300 eggs. Depending on the care of the eggs and a little luck, there will be approximately 75 - 125 trout that will survive the growth cycle for each tank. The trout will grow to approximately 4 - 5 inches and be released in May/June 2010. Our chapter delivered over 7,000 eggs. There were over 33,000 eggs delivered state-wide. The hatchery used 13 female trout which provided over 2500 eggs per trout.
After the delivery, we each went home feeling that we had accomplished a good days work.
Ken Devory
JSTU TIC Coordinator |
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