Haileyville eighth and ninth grade students visit The Durant State Fish Hatchery and Atoka Museum and Civil War Cemetary

At the Durant State Fish Hatchery, students learned about the history and efforts of the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation Fisheries Division. Specifically, students gained an in-depth knowledge of the Florida largemouth bass production program, which allows the State Fish Hatchery technicians to produce trophy-sized bas that are stocked in public Oklahoma lakes. During the Atoka Museum and Civil War Cemetery visit, students participated in an outdoor walking tour of the Civil War Cemetery, learning about the history of the Civil War in Southeast Oklahoma. Students also toured the museum, which includes history of Atoka County, such as displays of legendary professional bull rider, Lane Frost, and country music entertainer, Reba McEntire, who are originally from the area.

Students who attended the trip were: Brailey Blue, Shayden Cole, Buddy Covey, Annie Dawson, Jenessa Dugger, Macie Graves, Caleb Hatcher, Akiera Hawk, Jaylon Hughes, Grace Jackson, Jaymen Jones, Brennan Kuykendall, Frankie Labor, Jayce Lardi, James Meek, Audrey Nelms, Alex Pease, Shelby Ranells, Alex Richards, Ethan Russell, Cameron Sensibaugh, Mariah Shamasco, Megan Sherwood, Andrew Short, Stormie Stiles, Braden Suter, Elijah Tackett, Alanna Williams, and Carson Woodward.

The field trip was sponsored by Eastern Oklahoma State College GEAR UP. Eastern received a $17 million federal GEAR UP grant in 2017, and will serve more than 3,000 students in 39 area schools for seven years.

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