KarunaNews Story

Science and biology lessons at Palisade High School are hands-on as science teacher Pat Steele works with his students to help save the endangered razorback sucker, which has become the school's unofficial mascot. They recently celebrated their 1,000th fish release. "They have been swimming around right here in Palisade for upwards of 5 million years," said Mike Gross, a fish culturist with Ouray National Fish Hatchery. "This is absolutely the highlight of my career, watching the next generation actually take hold of a lot of these problems, and I couldn't be more proud of these kids." With every fish they raise and release, Steele hopes they're teaching kids the importance of protecting the world around them. "It takes a village to raise a fish," he said tearfully.