Cleveland School Goes Fishing With MFWP

Cleveland Elementary, south of Chinook, has been very active in the great outdoors lately; going on Ice Fishing trips, learning how to identify birds and getting to really interact with various organizations in the community. Teacher, Mrs. Shirley Kienenberger-Fisher, or simply Mrs. Fisher to her students, is thrilled with the opportunity her students have had recently.

Mrs. Fisher has five students at Cleveland ranging from kindergarten to the fifth grade. On Monday, February 27 Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks Warden Haden Hussey made his way to the Cleveland School at about 11 am. Warden Hussey touched base with the kids on the plans for the day, went over Ice Safety and then headed to the South Faber reservoir for a couple of hours of fun. This wasn't a spur of the moment visit as the kids were previously introduced to Warden Hussey.

Mrs. Fisher explained how everything came to be, "Mr. Hussey stopped by the school a couple of weeks prior to go over the rules, regulations and how to set up their tip-ups. He went over basic information, ice safety and how to identify the fish. When the day came to go fishing there were high winds, and it was cold. It was horribly windy, but the kids loved it. Not really a big deal though, they are out every day out at Cleveland in the wind."

Cody and Kira Ross, Jim Pankratz, Ruger Schofield, Raylee Houtzel took part in the ice fishing field trip. "They caught three fish on the trip," said Mrs. Fisher. "Hayden took the fish and will bring them back to the school later and we will have them for lunch." The whole experience was a real positive one for the students, "I thought it was excellent. We could use it academically reading math and STEM, they learned about ice safety and fish identification. They sincerely enjoyed it. They loved Hayden coming out, he is really good with the kids, and they are so excited to see him when he comes."

Mrs. Fisher also stated that Warden Hussey had been out to the school to work with the students on bird identification as well, "Hayden is such a positive role model that has the students talking about their future. It's wonderful to have people of the community take an interest in our small schools. It is my understanding Hayden is also visiting Zurich School, and Bear Paw as well," said Mrs. Fisher. The learning opportunities the students get from receiving hands instruction on will last a lifetime. Learning and developing a positive relationship with the Game Warden is a big deal, "They didn't have any idea how much a warden did," stated Mrs. Fisher. "I want the students to have positive thoughts and know they can turn to them in time of need. We had a Sheriff Deputy come out and we went to the fire hall with Zurich and emergency services as well. We have a wildfire program coming to Chinook also."