Teacher Tidbits

Please review and share this information with your students and parent chaperones.

Directions to Rocky Reach Dam

Our event venue has changed this year! Rocky Reach Dam is hosting the festival at 5000 Hwy 97A North, Wenatchee, WA. It is a 15 minute drive north of Wenatchee Washington on 97 ALT (the west side of the Columbia River on the way to Entiat).

Bus Loading & Unloading

At the guard station, tell the guard whether you will be unloading and leaving, or parking for the day. Follow their directions to the appropriate lot (see the parking map on the School Days page). Once you unload, a Salmon Festival representative will meet you to greet your students, collect your photo release forms, and direct you to your first activity.

Be On Time

Our scheduling is very tight. Late-comers may not be accommodated. We try to give you at least 15 minutes to move between activities.

Lunches

You may have students carry individual lunches in their backpacks, or bring class coolers or bins. If you bring class coolers or bins, make sure to label them with the school and teacher names, and a Salmon Festival Representative will take them to the designated lunch area when you arrive. Your drop off location will decide where your lunches go.
Coho Lot: in the Lower Shelter
Chinook Lot and Private Vehicles: Lunches will be in the upper lawn area

Photo Release Forms

English and Spanish versions of the photo release forms can be found in the “2023 Teacher Resources” section of the School Days page. Please have your students get signed copies of the photo release forms! If you have signed photo release forms for all of your students, please deliver them to festival staff when you arrive. We will collect them at the festival entrance, and let the festival photographers and videographers know your class may be photographed. This will help us make training videos and virtual content for distance-learning classes.

As a public event, there may be other media taking photos. If a student should not be photographed, please ask their chaperone to communicate this with any other media photographers that approach your group.

Dress and Personal Items

Instruct your students to dress appropriately for outdoor weather. Students should bring a backpack with a pencil and water bottle inside. Please make sure your students leave the festival with all their belongings. Each year we have lots of items sent to our lost and found! It’s very helpful if personal items and clothing are labeled with the teacher and school name, in addition to the student’s name.

Nametags

While not required, giving each students a name tag helps our activity instructors better engage individual students. If a student’s school and class are also on the name tag, it will help festival staff reunite lost students with their group.

Pre-Work

You can find links to the Salmon Fest Curriculum here. Not every activity has pre- and post- festival classroom supplemental learning, but many do! When you prepare your students for the concepts and vocabulary they will use at Salmon Fest, they will have a richer experience.

First Aid

The first aid station will be located next to the STEM Center (just up the hill from the Lunch Area, and across the road from drop-in station #11). This will also be the waiting area for any students who find themselves separated from their group.

Bathrooms

There are two outdoor bathroom buildings (near the Native American Village and near the Exhibitor area) and additional bathrooms inside the Rocky Reach Discovery Center.

Gyotaku

If you are scheduled to attend this fish printing activity, make sure you bring pre-labeled name tags for each student and remember to pick up prints before leaving the festival. Labels should include school name, teacher name, and student name. Sample Gyotaku Labels

Special Needs

Make sure the festival staff and your chaperones are aware of any special needs of your students.

Festival T-shirts

Festival t-shirts will be sold at the Friends of NW Hatcheries booth.

Volunteers Needed!

We need your help to recruit volunteers. If you or someone you know wants to be a part of the Salmon Fest Team, please contact the Friends of Northwest Hatcheries at 509.548.6662 ext. 226, or complete the volunteer sign-up form.

Post-Event Evaluation* 

To help us improve the Salmon Festival for next year, we need your feedback. Following the event, teachers will be asked to complete the Post-Event Evaluation Form (will be located here).

*All teachers who turn in a complete set of photo release forms when they arrive at the festival OR complete the evaluation in a timely fashion will get priority scheduling for next year’s Salmon Fest!