Author: Katie Whittington
APNEP is proud to be funding the 2024-2025 Shad in the Classroom project as a part of its Engagement and Stewardship Grant program! In addition to providing students with comprehensive education about the importance of the American Shad fish, this project gives students hands-on experience raising American Shad that they later release into the Neuse River. Championing environmental stewardship, education, and community engagement, Shad in the Classroom works to inspire students of all ages both inside and outside of the classroom.
What are American Shad and why do they matter for the APNEP region?
American Shad have called the Albemarle-Pamlico watershed home for thousands of years, making up one of the East Coast’s most “abundant and economically important” fisheries with deep cultural, historical and ecological significance. American Shad are anadromous fish, meaning they live in the ocean for most of their lives, but spawn in freshwater rivers. This gives renewal efforts like Shad in the Classroom a key opportunity to help bolster American Shad populations in rivers right in their backyards. Since 2009, the Shad in the Classroom project has helped sustain American Shad populations in the Neuse River, where the fish have previously flourished, by engaging over 22,000 students across 324 classrooms in North Carolina. In 2025, the program is continuing this commitment to environmental restoration, stewardship, and education with its newest cohort of Shad in the Classroom participants.
"Every river that comes into North Carolina from the ocean is going to have shad,” Daniell Pender, the primary coordinator for Shad in the Classroom says. Since the 1970s, water pollution, over-harvesting, and habitat disruption have severely decreased the numbers of American Shad spawning in all NC rivers, including the Neuse. In response to this, Shad in the Classroom was created as a pilot program by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2009. The North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences (NCMNS) later took over operations in 2013 and brought in Pender as project specialist. The program is now a part of Project RESTORE which focuses on protecting endangered and imperiled species in North Carolina, like the Neuse River Waterdog and the Red Wolf. Although the American Shad has no official “endangered” or “species of special concern” designation, Pender says the species is still “of great concern,” as apparent by its inclusion in Project RESTORE.
American Shad parents swimming in a tank at the Watha Fish Hatchery. Photo credit: Danielle Pender.
The project operates as both an environmental restoration and education effort. It engages students in lessons about biology, ecology, math, and even art about the historical, cultural, and biological importance of the American Shad. The anadromous fish have massive historical, economic, and ecological significance across the East Coast, but especially in the Albemarle Sound. Today, American Shad are well-known for their economic importance for recreational fishing but have a well-documented history of commercial importance too. Between 1845 and 1907, they thrived in NC’s Greenfield Fishery, one of the most economically fruitful fisheries of the region (Hightower et al., 1996). They are also ecologically valuable to many different ecosystems. As anadromous fish, they travel from the ocean to freshwater systems to spawn, transferring vital marine nutrients in the process. They are migratory warriors, braving upstream currents and a daunting journey from as far north as Nova Scotia to North Carolina’s Neuse River.
American Shad also harbor great cultural importance; they are the subject of many “Shad Festivals” that are held annually up and down the East Coast. Dr. Wilson Laney, an expert fishery biologist, remarked how he compiled information on these festivals for the Atlantic States Marine Fisheries Commission years ago, highlighting both the historical and cultural significance of American Shad to economies and lifestyles across a myriad of communities. American Shad are also integral to many Indigenous cultures along the East Coast. For example, the Mattaponi Tribe in Virginia serves shad at annual celebrations as part of a “traditional fish fry breakfast.” In an interview with Virginia Public Radio, Dawn Custalow explains the tremendous importance of American Shad to Mattaponi culture. “Our ancestors taught colonists the value of shad. I spent a lot of my childhood fishing with my dad and my uncles at our reservation. Back then fishing was still a livelihood and a passion of the Indians. It was woven into our being by our ancestors. When I was a kid, there would be an abundance of shad on Easter Sunday. Now, shad are nearly gone.” The importance of this species to various cultures, economies, and ecologies is undeniable, making it the perfect focus for an action-oriented environmental education program like Shad in the Classroom.
Danielle Pender serves as the primary coordinator for the program, but also works closely with Melissa Dowland and Megan Davis. Dowland is the Manager of Teacher Education with NCMNS and is Pender’s “partner” in everything Shad. Davis serves as the Coordinator of Teacher Education and also assists the program in many ways. Although the program is managed by NCMNS it receives significant logistical and financial support from the Albemarle-Pamlico National Estuary Partnership (APNEP), the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC), the USFWS. NC State University (NCSU) and the NC American Fisheries Society student chapters at NCSU and Eastern Carolina University (ECU) also play significant roles.
Preparing for the Program: Teacher Trainings
The program begins in late fall when interested teachers can apply to participate in the hands-on learning opportunity. After applying, teachers are invited to a workshop in February to learn about the history of American Shad and techniques for restoring and managing current populations. “We do a very hands-on workshop where they are actually sorting pretend eggs, measuring water quality, and [learning to] build their own tank,” Pender says. Alongside Dowland, Pender oversees the trainings for dozens of teachers every year. In addition to lesson plans, teachers are given the knowledge and tools to successfully lead their students in raising nearly 1000 shad larvae for release into the Neuse River come spring. Out of the 17 teachers who attended the 2023 training, only six were new to Shad in the Classroom. “Once someone is in the program, they can stay.” Pender elaborates that many teachers return to the program every year and can even keep the equipment that Shad has given them while in the program. Schools like Exploris Middle School and later Exploris Elementary School have been with the program, “essentially since the beginning,” Pender says.
Historically, Educator Treks to the region have been an immersive, experiential form of teacher training that involve a paddle trip (and sometimes camping) throughout the bottomland hardwood swamps along the Roanoke and/or Cashie Rivers. These treks have served as an opportunity for teachers to become more familiar with the environment that shad and many other local species (Barred Owls, migratory birds like the “swamp canary”- the Prothonotary Warbler, River Otters, and more!) rely on. During the 2024 trek, teachers could be found exploring tree species, lichens, aquatic organisms, and reflecting on the value of the swamp -- both personally and ecologically. In 2025, the program plans to offer another Educator Trek in an effort to foster a deeper understanding of and inspire the continued conservation of these critical forested wetland habitats among a new group of teachers.
Teachers participating in a water quality activity at the 2024 training. Photo credit: Danielle Pender.
What Happens in the Classroom?
Shad in the Classroom combines the most important facets of American Shad’s significance and designs lesson plans and activities for teachers and their students. Pender says schools can “make a huge program out of it” if they wish or simply utilize the lesson plans provided by the program. With support from researchers and staff at the NC Museum of Natural Sciences, Shad in the Classroom has developed a multitude of activities for students to learn about the American Shad. One of the activities developed by the program, “Who’s Your Shaddy,” tasks students with matching the DNA of a mother and child fish with the father. While this activity is intended for older students, Shad in the Classroom works with students spanning from the 2nd through the 12th grade. “Migration Madness,” for example, is intended for younger students. This activity gives students the opportunity to learn how shad migrate and tasks them with avoiding common obstacles the fish face on their journey up the Cape Fear River. This activity was adapted from a similar one created at the NCMNS in Whiteville. Students have also done art projects in the gyotaku art style painting fish on paper, t-shirts, and tote bags.
Lakewood Montessori Middle School students examining the water quality in their tank. Photo credit: Fred Pfeiffer.
Seawell Elementary School students with their gyotaku fish paintings. Photo credit: Cristina Davidson.
Students at the Hub Farm Eno Valley examining shad embryos. Photo Credit: Rae Cohn.
In recent years, the program has also given students the opportunity to participate in fish dissections and anatomy lessons directed by student volunteers from North Carolina State University (NCSU), East Carolina University (ECU), and fish biologists with the NC Wildlife Resources Commission (NCWRC). Pender recalled “special” dissection classes she taught when she was a graduate student and was inspired to incorporate some similar lessons into Shad in the Classroom. NCSU and ECU students who are members of their respective university’s American Fisheries Society club are invited to come into participating classrooms and walk the students through a live dissection. Many retired NC State fishery biologists catch the fish that are used in the dissections, and more are provided by NCWRC district biologists. According to teacher feedback, this is many students’ “favorite part of the project."
Students at Glenwood Elementary School dissecting an American Shad under the supervision of college student volunteer instructors. Photo credit: Sheryl Kirkey-Dean.
Students at Seawell Elementary School at the dissection lesson. Photo credit: Virgina Jones.
Growing Shad from “Fish to Fry”
After the classroom piece, the program invites students to raise their own American Shad in their classrooms before taking a field trip to the Neuse River to release the fry. This phase of the project only lasts about a week, but Pender says this is “where the meat is” when it comes to achieving the project’s goals. Using the knowledge they’ve gained from earlier lessons, students raise real American Shad embryos from egg to fry under the supervision of their trained teacher. With help from NCMNS and NCWRC staff, embryos are collected and delivered to schools for classrooms to use. Over a week, students watch their embryos develop and hatch as fry, monitor water quality, and implement the knowledge they’ve gained from previous lessons. Then, when the fry are ready to be released, teachers take the students out to the Neuse River to release them.
Everything from the equipment to the field trip can be funded by Shad in the Classroom meaning schools can participate at no (or little) cost. American Shad embryos, the tank where they hatch and grow, and dissection materials are all provided for schools, lifting any financial barriers that may prevent some students from participating. Schools can also request funding assistance for field trips. Pender emphasizes how this is a crucial element of the project, as it allows her and other Shad volunteers to connect with students and schools from all backgrounds. Pender says that many students in the schools they work with have never been to the river so the “whole experience” in the field makes the project all the more special.
Students releasing American Shad fry. Photo credit: Stacey Feken.
Lakewood Montessori Middle School students releasing American Shad fry into the Neuse River at West Point on the Eno River. Photo credit: Danielle Pender.
According to Pender, she often hears from teachers about how this project connects with students that teachers weren’t able to get through to before. One teacher describes it as a “home run activity” and another remarks that "this was the best thing we did all year.” Returning teachers also rave about how the program has only improved over the years. “This program gets better each year we participate,” one teacher says. To learn more about what the release trips are like, check out this video.
Danielle Pender’s Story
Pender comes from a background in biology, having attained her bachelor’s in Marine Biology and her master’s in Freshwater Ecology. She jokes, “If I go on to get my PhD, I should do something anadromous,” to fully realize the overlap between freshwater and saltwater systems that most of her work revolves around. Funding from APNEP and the USFWS allowed for the creation of a dedicated program position for Shad in the Classroom in 2013. Pender exclaimed, “Oh my god, that is like perfect!” when describing her reaction to the position opening up. Since her inauguration in 2013, she says the program has been a “gift” to her. APNEP's support, she says, goes beyond funding. Whether it’s showing up to deliver the embryos or meet at the releases, “APNEP is an awesome partner.”
In 2024-2025, Shad in the Classroom will involve 2,500 students from 31 classes, with over 300 students coming from Title I schools. Around 1,000 of these students will release the fry into the Neuse River and all will learn directly from experts about the immense value of the American Shad.
Danielle Pender holding an American Shad while sampling for parental broodstock with the NCWRC. Photo credit: T.D. VanMiddlesworth.
Works Cited
Dawn Custalow (2023) “Mattaponi Tribe: An ancient tradition is threatened by the loss of the American shad.” Tribal Truths, Radio IQ and WVTF Music, https://www.wvtf.org/podcast/tribal-truths/2023-05-18/mattaponi-tribe-an-ancient-tradition-is-threatened-by-the-loss-of-the-american-shad.
Danielle Pender (2024) Interview conducted by Katie Whittington.
Joseph E. Hightower, Anton M. Wicker & Keith M. Endres (1996) Historical Trends in Abundance of American Shad and River Herring in Albemarle Sound, North Carolina, North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 16:2, 257-271