This year marked the first run of Walla Walla University’s salmon project. In mid-May, the junior and senior education majors of the Methods of Teaching Science and Math course—taught by Brian Hartman, associate professor of education—released their baby salmon into Mill Creek.

“Yes, real baby salmon! We are hosting salmon just like our local elementary schools to teach education majors how they can lead these types of programs in their future classrooms,” said Maria Bastien Valenca, dean of the School of Education and Psychology.

Just like elementary classrooms all over the Walla Walla Valley, Hartman partnered with the Tri-State Steelheaders’ Salmon in Schools program to teach his students about the salmon lifecycle, their local ecosystem, and more as they watched their own salmon grow from eggs to adolescents.

Every year, the Salmon in Schools program provides all the necessary equipment, permits, and salmon eggs to participating classrooms in October. Throughout the school year, the program’s limited staff offer monthly lessons as the children watch the salmon grow until the fish are ready to be released into local streams in April and May.

For Hartman, partnering with this program is an opportunity to provide prospective teachers with hands-on experience while also supporting an important local environmental educational program. After completing this course, students are qualified to assist local teachers and Salmon in School program trainers in the classroom.

By the end of the academic year, WWU’s salmon project received funding for a new 75-gallon tank. The tank will be ready for next year’s class, marking the official start to this now annual program.

To learn more about the School of Education and Psychology, visit wallawalla.edu/ed-psych.

Posted Aug. 7, 2025