Ivanna Eudora Kean High School’s new tilapia farm on St. Thomas started almost a year ago with 45 hatchlings. On Wednesday those fish were finally harvested and filleted by students who will soon be learning how to turn the fresh meat into healthy fish tacos.
The tilapia farm opened its doors last April and, since then, students under the guidance of Kean science teacher Kirk E. Lewis have helped to turn the initial 45 hatchlings into upwards of 700 fish that have been bred in a sustainable system that also includes a hydroponic vegetable farm with everything from arugula to chives.
“As part of our daily routine, the students conduct water quality testing, looking at pH levels and alkalinity, they check the plants to see how they are growing, they look out for insects and pests, and they plant or work with the fish one to two times a week,” Lewis explained.
When the farm first started, Lewis said his ultimate goal was to be able to breed the tilapia at the school and eventually sell the meat and vegetables to the public. With several tanks teaming with fish and boxes of vegetables thriving nearby, it appears that Kean is nearing that point, but the harvest Wednesday gave students the opportunity to move even closer by learning another valuable trick of the trade: how to catch, stun and fillet the fish in preparation for a meal.
As part of the first fish harvest, Lewis and Kean hosted a team of chefs from Chartwells Dining Services, a national food services consultant working with the local Education Department. Chartwells has worked in the territory evaluating the public schools’ kitchen systems and has helped to streamline their operations, along with implementing the department’s new lunch menu in accordance with national nutritional guidelines.
“Pay close attention, because you guys will be filleting for anyone in the public that wants to come and buy our tilapia,” Lewis said to his students as they all waited for one of the tanks to drain. 
The fish picked for the harvest were “purged” for the past two weeks, isolated in a tank without food in order to eliminate any waste that might have built up in their systems.
“We also put some salt in the water because that gives the meat a good flavor,” Lewis said.
Sitting on one side of the tank as the water continued to drain, Kean 11th-grader Kewing Belizaire was busy giving his classmates filleting tips. Designated by the group as the student that would be “putting the fish out of their misery” before cutting them up, Belizaire said he was anxious to get in and get started.
None of the fish were killed before they were prepared Wednesday, but they were “stunned,” or hit over the head with a hammer.
Showing off the finer points of filleting was Chartwells’ executive regional chef Jennifer Brower, who spoke to students about sticking close to the rib cage and getting as much of the meat off the bone as possible.
Brower and her team also presented Lewis and his students with cutting boards, boning and filleting knives, and three different sizes of cut gloves that will help the students prepare their meat and produce.
Speaking later, Brower said one of the goals of these kinds of workshops is to get students thinking differently about food and how it can be prepared. The federal government’s new nutritional guidelines call for more fruit and vegetables, which students might not be willing to eat until it appears on their plate in a creative way.
Talking over the school’s new lunch menu, students at Kean also discussed wanting to see more local flavors in the cafeteria dishes, Brower added. So, in a second workshop scheduled for Thursday, students will be learning to turn their newly harvested tilapia into fresh fish tacos with stone ground flour tortillas, citrus salsa and brown rice.
A tossed salad with mixed dark greens will also accompany the meal.
“We definitely want to bring in resources like this on a regular basis, not only for the students but the adults as well,” Brower said. “With the nutritional regulations changing, we always have to find the balance between enforcing them and keeping the kids wanting to come to the cafeteria.”
“We hope that teaching them things like this – which also emphasizes healthy eating – will help,” she said.
Kean is the first high school in the territory to create a tilapia farm.
