Hilliard students spend day immersed in learning

Waddling in waist-high waders, the two teens made their way into the pond and plunged the lengthy fishing net into the water.

They then hoisted it, one holding each end, and grinned at their catch.

“We got a big one,” cheered Kristina Detty, a 17-year-old Bradley High School junior, as the flopping fish glistened under the afternoon sun.

Ohio State University students collected the fish — a bluegill and a largemouth bass fry, among others — and placed them in a bucket of water. They described the fish to the high school students before releasing them back into their habitat at the Charles W. Latham Park pond on the west side of Hilliard.

Throughout the past week, teens taking freshwater marine-ecosystems classes at each of Hilliard’s three high schools have visited the nearly 5-acre, city-owned pond.

In addition to catching underwater critters, Wednesday’s group of 20 or so Bradley High students studied organisms under microscopes, searched for aquatic insects in a nearby stream and learned how to measure water quality from a boat.

“Experiential learning is the best way to learn because they’re using all the senses — hearing, seeing, touching things,” said Kurt Keljo, watershed coordinator with the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District, who worked with students at the event. “Some students said it’s the best thing they’ve done all year.”