1st Place, Environmental, Health or Science
2021-22, Division 3, News Writing
By Grace Rossman & Gabe Goode
North Pointe
Grosse Pointe North HS
“Salmon in the Classroom,” a program run by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, has made its way to SCI203. This program brings a hands-on experience to approximately 300 classrooms around the state of Michigan, where students can observe the life cycle of salmon in their classroom. Tracy Page, the Aquatic Education Coordinator for the DNR, has run “Salmon in the Classroom” for four years.
“I think the most impactful thing out of salmon in the classroom is the ability to connect students to a resource that they would normally never see,” Page said. “Being able to see those fish that you would normally never get to see and never understand, and using them as a catalyst to build an appreciation of nature and want-to-be stewards, and take care of nature, I think is a really cool thing.”
These Chinook salmon eggs will grow and hatch in chemistry teacher Christopher Trepanowki’s classroom. 138 eggs were placed in the tank, and approximately 110 of them will survive to be released. Not only will his students get to observe the salmon as they grow each day, they will be able to relate the experience to their chemistry curriculum.
“We’ll be making connections, especially in the chemistry class, to things like the water chemistry,” Trepanowski said. “It just looks like clear water, but there’s a lot more in that water, a lot of those invisible chemicals that are harmful and beneficial to the eggs as they grow.”
All students in his chemistry classes will get to experience this from the eggs’ beginnings in Nov. 2021, into April 2022 when they release them into the Clinton River. Sophomore Ben Graham and his classmates are a part of this experience and look forward to the future of this project.
“I can kind of say for everyone that it’s fun to have them in the classroom,” Graham said. “I think it’s just cool because, again, you normally don’t have salmon in a classroom.”
The overall goal of the program, according to Trepanowski, is to create a meaningful learning environment and experience for the students whether it be an elementary or high school classroom.
“One of the things I hope they learn is just how incredible life is,” Trepanowski said.
NW-17. Environmental, Health or Science
This story will focus on an environmental, health or science topic. It can be a straight news story or an investigative piece.
Judging Criteria
- Topic relevant to the school or students and covers health, science or environmental story that is informative
- Sharp, attention-getting lead grabs reader and arouses curiosity
- Shows thorough reporting skills through research and interviewing
- Effective use of facts/quotes from both primary and secondary sources
- Balanced, fair and sensitive presentation
- Sentences, paragraphs of varied length; written clearly, concisely and vividly
- Proper diction/grammar; use of third person