Through special program, California students learn about the importance of clean water while raising trout

Over eight weeks, third grade students at Glen View Elementary School watched as their classroom's rainbow trout eggs hatched and grew into juvenile fish, learning about everything from ecosystems to water quality along the way.

Glen View is in Escondido, California, where the school district has partnered with the Escondido Creek Conservancy to offer Trout in the Classroom. Through this program, students raise trout for release in a local lake. This benefits both the students — who learn about watersheds and how to care for living creatures — and the environment. "We all need clean water," Escondido Creek Conservancy Education Director Simon Breen told NBC San Diego. "We all need clean air and we're never going to get there if the next generation doesn't understand the steps that they can take."

This was the first time teacher Belle Basa participated in the program, and she said the fish "mostly cooperated," while the students loved coming in and keeping tabs on them. Last Wednesday, it was time for the fish, now about two inches long, to be released in San Diego's Lake Miramar, and the class said goodbye to each one as they were gently placed into the water. Student Jaqui Gonzalez told NBC San Diego she was happy for the fish, because "they're going to be free in the lake, not just a small room."

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