Mrs. Miller's husband, Steve, kneels close to the edge of the bank. Inside the blue cooler he holds to the water's edge swim about rainbow trout 40 fry Mrs. Miller's class raised from 100 eggs in the Trout-in-the-Classroom program. Logger's Creek this morning registers 44-degrees for release.

Sponsored by the Ted Trueblood Chapter of Idaho Trout Unlimited, the students' adventure with Trout-in-the-Classroom began at the end of January and by February, the class had all the equipment, materials, curriculum, and 100 fertilized eggs.

"I thought I was the most excited, but the kids said this project was 'the best,'" Mrs. Miller said. "The kids play it pretty cool around me, but their folks know all about what we're doing and that shows me they're excited about what their learning because they're passing it along to their parents."

Begun in Idaho in 1995, Trout-in-the-Classroom uses a curriculum and materials developed by fisheries biologists to teach the lifecycle of trout to elementary and secondary school students. Coldwater tanks are placed into classrooms, where the eggs are fertilized and allowed to develop, and volunteer biologists instruct students in trout anatomy, biology, and habitat.

In Mrs. Miller's class, volunteers from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Boise State University, Idaho Power Company, and CH2M Hill Engineering also participated in the project. Art projects, field trips, guest speakers, and a necrology supplemented the students' Trout-in-the-Classroom education.