Palisade, CO - Palisade High School students released a school of 250 fish they've been raising all school year in their fish hatchery the afternoon of Wednesday, May 4, at the Riverbend Park boat launch in Palisade.
This is the second release of fish into the Colorado River by PHS students since the hatchery opened at the school. The fish hatchery is a rare offering for a high school, especially one that is not on the east or west coast.
Students learn about math and science in a hands-on way by raising the endangered fish in tanks in a building outside the school until the fish are large enough to go in the river each spring. The next school of fish just hatched off-site and will come to the school in August after the tanks have been cleaned.
The hatchery project was made possibly by D51, the D51 Foundation, D51 Master Electrician Brian Scherping, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, SGM, the Grand Junction Lions Club, Palisade Rotary, Alpine Bank, and the Western Colorado Community Foundation.