Olympia students raise tilapia

STANFORD — There's something fishy going on at Olympia High School these days.

And both students and teachers are proud of it.

The rural Stanford school, which has developed a reputation for its science and agriculture programs, has taken one step further into raising tilapia as part of its Grow Our Own project. The fish were added in late April after the Illinois Department of Natural Resources granted a permit for an aquaculture program.

Tilapia are not native to this area but are a popular food fish commonly used in aquaculture.

Staff and students are currently raising 50 to 60 fish in 400- to 500-gallon tanks in the school's greenhouse. The fish will be grown until the adult size of about 1 to 1.5 pounds each.

The goal is to eventually produce 100 percent organic fillets to supply the school cafeteria or be sold or donated to charity, said biology teacher Pete Cleary.

Olympia students are already learning other lessons from fish.

Senior Zack Talbert of Armington and junior Sean Humphrey of Hopedale initially did an experiment to see what food helped fish grow fastest. The fish kept jumping out of the tank, however, so they modified their project to study how having goldfish in the water would affect hydroponically grown tomatoes.

“It probably prepared us better. We had to revise our experiment, work on the fly,” Humphrey said of being forced to try another option.

Adapting “on the fly” is not new to Olympia and its greenhouse.

The school first built its greenhouse in 1998, but budget constraints starting in 2000 meant it wasn't being used as much as was hoped initially. Since then the school has benefited from a wide variety of grants and donations.

One of the most recent was a $1,000 grant from Corn Belt Energy for the tilapia project.

Monsanto's America's Farmers Grow Rural Education gave Olympia $25,000 in 2011, and the McLean County's Sheriff's Department donated greenhouse supplies formerly used to grow marijuana illegally.

The tilapia project combines science, technology, engineering and math. “All of us try to work together,” said Chris Embry Mohr, head of the science department.

Jarrod Rackauskas, a chemistry and technology teacher, helped build the hydroponics system students use to grow tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, strawberries and cucumbers in the greenhouses. Their annual plant sales raise money for future projects.

“Adding the fish fits well with the biology curriculum,” said Cleary. Students learn about collecting data about respiration rate, the temperature of the water, food and how they are related to growth of the fish, he said.

Along with students and science teachers, the food service team is involved. Food Service Director Mary Idleman first showed interest in using tomatoes grown in the school's greenhouses about three years ago. Now the cafeteria team is looking at tilapia recipes.

As the fish program grows, Cleary hopes to get two more 500-gallon tanks so students can raise tilapia at various sizes to harvest. Funding continues to be a challenge for the tilapia and other greenhouse projects, but a lot of progress has been made this spring, he said.

“I'd like to be ready to go full speed ahead when school starts,” he said.