SOUTH PORTLAND – Students from Small and Skillin elementary schools in South Portland released hundreds of baby brook trout into the city’s Trout Brook, which runs through Mill Creek Park, during a special event last week.

The students, working with the Portland Water District, the Cumberland County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Casco Bay Estuary Partnership, also conducted water quality testing and a shoreline assessment to determine if the brook was suitable for the fish.

Students at the two schools have been raising brook trout since January and as part of the Trout Brook project they have also studied watersheds, the water cycle, the trout life cycle, and related environmental topics, such as stormwater runoff.

Michelle Clements, spokeswoman for the Portland Water District, said that by involving local students in the trout project, it allows the youngsters to connect to the stream and take a role in its future protection.

Trout Brook is an impaired urban stream and the communities of South Portland and Cape Elizabeth have worked together during the past several years to improve the water quality there.

–Kate Irish Collins

South Portland students Olivia Brown, left, and Avery Hamor, test the water quality in Trout Brook last week, along with teacher Carina Brown.