Throw away the books. Forestview Middle School’s 8th grades are gone fishing. For the last four years Forestview has teamed up with Garrison Sports to take the 8th graders fishing on Mille Lacs Lake for their annual 8th grade trip.
8th grade geography teacher Jon Stolski says, “A lot of these kids don’t get the opportunity to go fishing. And we just decided it would be a great opportunity for many of them to get a chance to spend some time on Mille Lacs Lake.”
For the students it was a chance to breakaway from their textbooks and enjoy a day out of the classroom.
Forestview 8th grader, Kiyanna Storstad says, “Just hanging out. Enjoying the breeze. Hanging out with friends. Enjoying not having to be in class.”
Maddi Langley, another Forestview 8th grade angler says, “Get out of doing homework. Come out and hangout with friends. Have fun outside.”
But, hold on kids. The teachers still took this day on the lake as an opportunity to do some hands on learning.
Stolski says, “Getting a chance to go fishing. Learn a little bit about the biology of the lake. You know the ecosystem. It was good, it was fun.”
I figured it was time for me to cast my line out. The back right side of the boat seems to be the lucky spot on the boat. The girls back here have caught both of the walleye so far on this trip.
Storstad pulled in the largest fish of the day, a 27” walleye. She says, “When I was reeling it in was kind of hard. And I didn’t know how to do it, because I didn’t want to reel it in really fast and lose the fish. I just kept pulling and tugging. And then they put the net out and just pulled it back into the boat. Yea that was the biggest fish I ever caught.”
When Langley snagged her 24.5” walleye, she says, “I don’t remember my bobber going down. And I looked over and it was underwater. So I kind of reeled it in quick and I had to yell fish a few times. And no one really heard. Then Kiyanna yelled it and people heard. Exciting I haven’t caught one in a while. First time on the water this year since the ice has opened up.”
All in all, everyone seemed to enjoy having Malle Lacs Lake as their temporary classroom.
Langley says, “First time on Mille Lacs. Good fish.”
Storstad says, “I’m really excited and I’m glad we had the opportunity to come out here.”
Stolski, who was on a separate boat from Langley and Storstad, says, “It was fantastic. Everything went great. Couldn’t of had a better day. The fishing was good. The catching was a little slow.”
After four hours on the lake, it was back on the buses in time for final period.