Students from Butler Intermediate High School took part in stocking juvenile brook trout into Thorn Creek in Penn Township.

PENN TWP — About 50 students from Butler Intermediate High School got their feet wet Wednesday morning at Thorn Creek, when they became the latest group to participate in a nearly-decade-long stream rehabilitation project.

The project is coordinated by science teacher Dave Andrews, who teaches 7th and 8th grade at the district, and leads a months-long project where students hatch and raise brook trout in the classroom before releasing them into the creek. The company XTO Energy also partners with the district as part of its emphasis on STEM education.

This year students released 71 juvenile brook trout into the creek, which was grievously damaged in 2004 when the Friedman’s supermarket in Saxonburg was gutted by fire.

Ryan Harr, a watershed specialist with Butler County Conservation District, said the fire and the emergency response to it, created a “major pollution event,” that heavily damaged the ecosystem of the waterway.

“It basically killed everything in the stream,” Harr said.

Today Thorn Creek has fully recovered from the damage, Harr said, but as part of the legacy of rehabilitation Andrews’ program continues to bring students to the waterway, where they perform tests on the water, release trout and observe a lineup of other biological demonstrations conducted by Harr and Andrews

Andrews, who called the program one of the district’s most popular offerings, said the event provides an important opportunity for students to get hands-on experience in environmental studies.

“For some of this kids, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen a creek,” he said. “It gives them a way to get outside and make a connection between what we’re doing in the classroom, and the outside world.”