On October 24^th and 25^th , students from the Agricultural and Food Sciences Academy made the trek up north with their teacher Jay Guerin to spend two days at the Iron River National Fish Hatchery. 

This was the second field trip Guerin has brought to the hatchery, (20 students and parents accompanied Guerin in 2003) and we are hoping to keep this connection with the school for years to come. 

The 14 students were able to assist hatchery staff with spawning brood fish, sample counting production fish, performing the Geodes Index analysis on production fish and fall length/weight inventories on brood fish. 

This unique opportunity gave the students hands-on experience with fish work and hopefully convinced more than a few of them to pursue a career with the Fish and Wildlife Service. 

The extra hands were a great help to the hatchery staff, enabling us to complete a large portion of our fall projects.