The release into the Willowemoc Creek near the junction pool in Roscoe was the culmination of the Trout in the Classroom program, completed by the after-school Green Footsteps Trout Club. 

Through the program, fourth graders learned about the trout’s lifecycle, their anatomy and their place in the local ecosystems and economy.

The afterschool program visited the release location several times, and all students prekindergarten through second grades visited the trout tanks in the classroom, heard the story “Trout are Made of Trees,” and colored trout pictures to help make the Trout Release Day banners.

Third and fourth grade students and the Grade 5/6 special classes watched as Katie Piscitello, a fish culturist with the Department of Environmental Conservation Catskill Fish Hatchery, released the fish. They then sang a song to wish them well along their way. For the rest of the event, students took part in informational and interactive sessions, including casting and fly tying with the High School Outdoors Class, learning more about the DEC stocking and hatchery, decorating fish-shaped cookies with the High School FCCLA, making art and playing games with the Rockland FFA chapter, and watching a K-9 demonstration.