To the Editor:

As the school season wraps up for students across town, thoughts rapidly turn to everything unrelated to academics. But before we get too deep in the bliss of summer, I'd like to take a moment to thank all the teachers in Newtown who helped make Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom program so effective for our children. At Reed Intermediate School, Induk Song, Todd Stentiford, Jim Roodhuyzen, and Rich Neeb led a successful program for fortunate students.

Trout in the Classroom (TIC) provides classrooms with the opportunity to raise trout from eggs. During the process of raising the trout this program serves as a component of children's science curriculum teaching not only biological processes but also themes in conservation. Recently, schools have been expanding the program to touch language arts and other disciplines. During the past decade the Candlewood Valley chapter's TIC program has touched over 10,000 children in more than thirty area schools.

This Saturday, June 28th, the Candlewood Valley chapter will be holding an invasive plant clean-up on the banks of Deep Brook in Newtown from 9 am to noon. We're meeting at 9 am in the parking lot of Reed Intermediate School. To learn more about Trout in the Classroom and this weekend's clean-up event visit cvtu.org.

Stephen Zakur

President, Candlewood Valley Chapter

Trout Unlimited

P.O. Box 3795, Danbury, CT 06811             June 23, 2014