Colfax Elementary students raise $4,000 to restock aquarium following fish kill

By LeAnn R. Ralph

COLFAX — One day, all of the fish in the aquarium at Colfax Elementary were swimming around happily.

The next day, they were all dead.

Well. Not all of them. Five fish from one species survived.

You can imagine the shock and dismay of Colfax Elementary staff members when they arrived at school one morning this spring to find hundreds upon hundreds of dead fish in the 12-foot long 500 gallon aquarium that occupies the wall by gymnasium.

The aquarium has been at Colfax Elementary for about 15 years.

“No one knows what happened to the fish. We’ve done every kind of research. The only thing that’s happened like that was many years ago when the village chlorinated the water. But nothing like that happened this time,” said Beverly Keltner.

“Of the hundreds and hundreds of fish, five of them made it,” she said, noting that the tropical fish in the aquarium had been multiplying steadily over the years.

A large sign now occupies the wall space underneath the aquarium that says, “New School Coming Soon.”

Keltner, who taught first grade, retired from the school district 11 years ago but still works at the school half days.

She and the other first-grade teachers at the time, Carol Springer and Gwen O’Hara, were instrumental in forming the idea for the aquarium and then raising money to install it, stock it and maintain it.

Students at Colfax Elementary have sold flower bulbs for many years to help maintain the aquarium, and this year, the students raised $4,000.

The money will go for buying new fish for the aquarium as well as fish food, filtration materials and monthly maintenance fees.

Messenger readers who have purchased flower bulbs from Colfax Elementary students know that the flowers are hardy, resilient — and beautiful.

“Last year, we had a few people who had problems with one item. I called the company. They said, well, they’ve had some problems with that one. They sent 91 new packages. Even though other people have not complained, they sent them to replace all of the flowers. They are an awesome company. We’ve been dealing with them for over 20 years,” Keltner said.

No tax money

No tax dollars were spent on purchasing and installing the aquarium, and no tax dollars are spent on stocking and maintaining the aquarium. The work is all paid for through fund raising, Keltner said.

The aquarium cost over $17,000 to build, install and stock with fish.

First grade students, parents, local businesses and volunteers raised the $17,000 over a seven-year period.

Much of the money was raised by holding a science carnival.

The event was called the “Active Hands —  Active Minds/Super Science Carnival.”

The carnival filled practically every room in the elementary school and attracted hundreds of visitors.

People who visited the carnival could try the experiments for 25 cents.

They could also take away the makings of a replica to set up the experiment at home.

The experiments mostly used recycled and free materials, such as soda pop bottles and cans.

Visitors to the carnival made items such as volcanoes, magnifying glasses and water fountains.

Residents at Area Nursing Home helped prepare the material for use at the carnival.

Workshop

Keltner and her colleague Gwen O’Hara came up with the idea for a science carnival in the summer of 1994 when they attended a workshop through UW-River Falls about teaching science.

Their assignment was to devise an outreach education plan that would involve the community.

The first year, the science carnival raised $2,000.

The goal had been $200.

The science carnival was quite popular with the students, their families and the community, Keltner said.

Flower sales

More than 125 Colfax Elementary students sold flower bulbs this spring.

Students who sold 200 or more packages of flowers earned a basketball, and students in the same family could work together toward the goal, Keltner said.

“Working for a basketball was a really good incentive. In the past, we have always given the basketball to the top sellers. I think it helped our sales to do it this way,” Keltner said.

The flowers have “staying power,” she noted.

“We started out at $4, and now they are $10, but people just keep buying them,” Keltner said.

Keltner said she thinks the steady or increasing sales is because the flowers are a good product and have gained a reputation in the area.

The flowers come straight from Holland, she said.

By the time school starts next fall, the aquarium is expected to be fully stocked, and the five fish swimming around the 500 gallon tank will once again have company.

The students who received basketballs this year are Seth Mayfield; Emma Shearer; Julia Whitwam; Jaelyn Buchholz; Trinity Pyka; Matthew Berg; Spencer Dierich; Meadow Keltner; and Rayna Keltner.