Saving Fish from Soup

When I arrived last Monday to school, the first words anyone said to me that morning were, "Mr. Liu, they killed your fish." Soon, I found my 25 gallon tank filled with oil, sugar, salt, vinegar, and other substances toxic to my freshwater fish. Besides that, my couch and pillows, as well as printer and computers, were drowned in corn oil. Attendance records were drenched. Homework assignments were wiped out. We had been vandalized. Other classrooms had similar damage and we were left flabberghasted.

Frustrated, I threw a pillow at the wall. You give your heart and time to your students, so when something like this happens, it really is like a stab in the back. (For several reasons, we are pretty confident it was a student) As 7th graders came in, many jaws dropped, surprised at what had happened. "Mr. Liu, I feel sorry for you," said one. "The fishies!!!" exclaimed another. After a brief moment of disappointment, it was time to get to work. Obviously, it wouldn't be right to proceed with the lesson that morning with all that damage in sight, so I mobilized my first period class. Some kids began scooping fish from the tank. Others started blow drying the room. Others, still, were cataloging the damage.

The most encouraging part of the day was seeing Janine taking the lead to scoop fish out from the polluted tank with her own hands. I had serious doubts, especially because the water in the tank was like a rich and oily soup. Nonetheless, every single one of the fourteen mosquito fish were saved on that day! Even though we didn't get very much work done, it may have been one of the best moments of our class this year!