News : Ag students ask school board to consider aqua-science program

Abbie Darland, left and Colleen Finch discuss aquascience with the VS School Board.

As Iowa changes, and fewer students grow up on farms, the way Iowa schools teach agriculture is changing, as well.

One of those changes was on the agenda of the most recent Vinton-Shellsburg School Board agenda: Aquascience.

High School FFA/Ag teacher Louise Fleming and two FFA members, Abbie Darland and Colleen Finch spoke to the school board about their vision for an aquascience program at the high school.

The students did most of the speaking, repeating to the board some ideas they had shared earlier with Superintendent Mary Jo Hainstock.

There are two components to the program: A hydroponics system for growing lettuce and other produce; and aquariums and large tanks for raising a variety of fish and seafood.

"We are looking at starting with prawn, Tilapia, and possibly perch or walleye, and Koi," said Fleming. (Prawn is a type of shrimp, and Koi is a colorful exotic breed of carp often kept by those who have fish for pets.)

The plan is to construct the tanks over the summer, or early in the next school year, said the teacher.

"Kids are doing research into different aquatic species and their needs. We are also hoping to get some aquaponic stands to hook up to our tanks to create a true environment between the fish and plants," said Fleming.

Darland and Finch delivered a Power Point presentation listing the goals and costs of the program.

The class objective is to gain knowledge and skills related to aquaculture and hydroponics, and to provide and understanding of the species, their ecosystems and the interaction between plants and animals.

The students told the board that 39 students have already signed up for the class. The equipment needed will cost approximately $18,000.

Eventually, said the students, the fish and produce raised in the program could be put to use to help the school and the community. Lettuce could be used for the school salad bar, and the fish raised could be used for a fish fry.

Hainstock told the board that the girls had many ideas -- more than the school could afford to do now. But she said she was impressed with their interest in the project and the way they presented it.

"They had answers to our questions," she said. "They have designs and dreams. To some of those dreams we had to say, 'Not right now.'"

Todd Wiley, himself a V-S FFA student when he was in high school, said the aquascience program would offer great opportunities for the Supervised Ag Experience (SAE) activities that are a big part of the FFA program.

"This is a program with endless opportunities," VSHS principal Kirk Johnson told the board.