Video: Lee County High School Students Help Fish Hatchery During Hands On Field Trip

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TUPELO, MISS. (WCBI) – FFA and Ag students from several Lee County high schools spent part of their day at a fish hatchery, where they learned about aqua culture.

As WCBI’s Allie Martin reports, the field trip was a new experience for some and for other students, a taste of possible career paths after high school.

cg  Cain Havens/ Saltillo H.S.

It’s a hands on field trip, like no other.

About 40 high school students from Shannon, Mooreville and Saltillo helped employees at the Private John Allen Fish Hatchery seine the ponds.

“That net that we had in the water, that’s what’s called a seine, it has a float line and a lead line, so we had those kids get on either end pull it the whole way across the pond into one corner then all those fish are contained in a bag in that seine,” a fish biologist.

Students put the larger fish in one tank, the smaller ones in another.  The smaller fish will help restock ponds at the fish hatchery for future fishing rodeos, while the big catfish will be used for spawning .

The field trip goes along with lesson plans for ag classes.

“All of us have curriculum that ties to this activity and so we wanted to bring them out, get a hands on activity, we done this one time before and they loved it,” said Saltillo Ag Teacher Laurie Baggett.

For some students, it was a new experience.

“People who don’t even know how to swim can catch fish too,” said Caitlin Dixon, of Mooreville High School.

“This is my first time fishing ever, and I did it the real way, I got down up in there, and got the fish, got a little wet,” said MHS Senior Amber Jamerson.

Other students are avid hunters and fishermen who plan to pursue some type of career in agriculture or biology after high school and college.

“If you have never done this before, you need to come out here and take a chance doing this, it’s a real good learning experience,” said Dylon Letson, a junior at Saltillo High School.

“It’s all a foundational, with animals, even though fish are animals, but different then what I would be taking care of, it all comes to the same thing as far as how you handle stuff and being calm,” said SHS Senior Cain Havens.

In recent years, some participants on similar field trips have been offered summer jobs at the fish hatchery as part of the Youth Conservation Corps Program.

The Private John Allen Fish Hatchery is entering its busiest time of the year for school groups and other events.