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Come Back, Salmon

Jackson Elementary School is located near the mouth of Pigeon Creek in Washington’s Puget Sound. Before the town grew into a proper city, Pigeon Creek was home to pigeons, native plants, and Coho Salmon. By 1986, only trash called Pigeon Creek home. The students and teachers of Jackson Elementary School wanted to change that. It took them many months and diligence to clean Pigeon Creek. When the city wanted to build a storage facility near the mouth of the Pigeon Creek, the students wrote letters against the plan.

Once they cleaned the creek, the students began to raise 1000 salmon eggs in a large aquarium. The entire school took charge of making sure the salmon survived. When the salmon were large enough, they were released into Pigeon Creek. No one knew for sure whether the salmon would return. But everyone continued to keep the creek clean, and when it came time for salmon to spawn, they monitored the creek for signs. Finally in 1988, two years after the first salmon were released, twenty-three salmon were spotted in the once-polluted Pigeon Creek. The salmon came back.

Grade Level: 4-5

Genre: Nonfiction

Format: Picture Story Book

Content:

Earth Science
Life Science
Peer Relationships