This weekend, 24 students from New Schmid Elementary School in Chicago are visiting Auburn to learn about the city and University.
On Friday morning, Sept. 11, the students and their chaperones visited the Auburn University Fisheries Unit.
Dennis Devries, agriculture professor who also originally hails from Chicago, introduced the students to the concepts of aquaculture and aquatic sciences.
The staff set up three stations for the kids to explore. At the first station, the children were able to paint a fish orange and blue and imprint their work onto a tote bag.
One of the students, Joshua Anderson, age 8, said he wants to be a zoologist when he grows up.
“My favorite animal is the beluga whale,” Anderson said.
At the next station Mike Loop, graduate student in fish and allied aquacultures, and Mollie Smith, outreach administrator in the School of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, explained the basics of fish farming.
Students were able to feed the fish and touch a tilapia and catfish.
Student Zion Pugh said the fish was, “Slimy, slimy, slimy, and gross.”
At the final station Rusty Wright, associate professor in fisheries, warned students of the dangers of electricity, but also said it can be used to help researchers gather fish. He showed students a bluegill sunfish, shellcracker and a bass.
The students are here because they adopted Auburn for a video competition held throughout their school.
Quinlan Matthew is a teacher at New Schmid. Her husband attended Auburn for finance and graduated in 2010. This influenced the students choice to select Auburn.
The students researched Auburn’s academics, athletics and traditions to integrate into their video. By the end of the project, students were able to recite The Auburn Creed and knew the fight song by heart.
According to Charles Martin and Mike Clardy, both of the Office of Communications and Marketing at Auburn, “Auburn and elementary school officials see this weekend’s visit as the kickoff for a long-term academic relationship.”
Other events the group has planned for the weekend include visiting the Auburn University Regional Airport to learn about drones, taking a special tour of the Auburn Arena, meeting basketball players and coaches and going to the Ralph B. Draughon Library to take part in an academic program.
The students will cheer on the Tigers at the game Saturday, Sept. 12, but not before they take the lead in the traditional Tiger Walk.
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