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Grow Out Our Clownfish

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The Coral Reef Project

In the last four years, The Coral Reef Project at Stratton Elementary has brought the ocean to schools and public places across our community.

We create and maintain marine and reef aquariums at local schools, libraries, and after school programs.  Each aquarium is cherished by the children who care for them and is a vehicle for hands-on science learning.   Our project also does educational outreach by hosting fieldtrips, visiting other schools and creating interactive exhibits at local events.  In the last year, over one thousand community members have experienced the ocean first hand, thanks to the hard work of Stratton students. 




(The Coral Reef Host a Tide Pool Touch Tank at the University of Illinois Engineering Open House)

Our Clownfish Breeding Program

Last year, The Coral Reef Project partnered with marine biologist Dr. Justin Rhodes at the University of Illinois to start a clownfish breeding program.  Dr. Justin Rhodes and his graduate students taught 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders how to culture rotifers, hatch and rear larval clownfish, and set up four clownfish breeding tanks in classrooms around the school. 

Learning how to breed fish has been an invaluable educational experience for our students and has taught them a considerable amount of chemistry, biology, and technical lab and experimentation skills. 

We have now bred over 300 clownfish that we are selling to our local fish store, Sailfin Pets , and our corporate sponsor, Quality Marine. Proceeds from breeding and selling fish can be a potential source of funding for The Coral Reef Project.  This summer, with the help of Dr. Rhodes and Quality Marine, we are expanding our breeding program and building a thousand gallon breeding system!


(A child checks out clownfish bred at Stratton at a school openhouse)


(Nipun, Alice, and Jy'Aire sort clownfish by size in our classroom)


Please Help Us!

Stratton is a Title One School and our project is not funded by the school district.  It relies solely on donations from Mr. Rutherford, the local community, and reef aquarium enthusiasts from around the world.

We need donations from people like you to purchase the equipment and supplies we need to build our clownfish breeding system, an investment we hope will allow us to become more financially independent.    

Your gift will ensure that our project continues to provide deserving students with an experience of a lifetime.  Please check out our project's website and our ongoing thread on Reef2Reef.com to learn more. You can also follow us on Twitter!

Thank you from the students of Stratton Elementary!


(a model drawing of the clownfish breeding system we're building)

Organizer

Brandon Rutherford
Organizer
Champaign, IL

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