A River Runs Through It

Hatching salmon isn’t a typical school activity, but teacher-librarian Janet Johnson made it an integral part of the school curriculum—and, in turn, helped Sonoji Sakai Intermediate School in Washington win a GreenGuide award for being one of the nation’s top 10 environmentally friendly schools.

Located just west of Seattle on Bainbridge Island, the school was recognized primarily for its architecture. A salmon stream runs through the school property, and the site is designed to protect the annual return of salmon to their birthplace. But equally important, GreenGuide’s editors say, is the environment’s integration into the curriculum. “Raising salmon hatchlings for release in the campus stream is one way Sakai Intermediate’s students find their place in the world,” they noted.

Three years ago, Johnson and another teacher secured a grant of $2,000 a year for three years to set up a mini-hatchery. The gurgling hardware sits just outside the library windows. The children get their eggs from a commercial hatchery run by members of the Suquamish tribe on the mainland and place them in the tank around Christmastime. The eggs hatch several weeks later.

Led by Native American students, every March each student releases a tiny salmon into the stream. “It will take from three to five years for the salmon to return,” says Johnson, who with other teachers creates a collaborative salmon-centered curriculum. Currently fifth graders study “salmon science,” while sixth graders explore the many ways the fish relate to Native American history. “Salmon is a full-fledged part of the curriculum now,” Johnson says.