4000+ students from Tri-City elementary and middle schools gathered in Columbia Park to wish a fond farewell to the salmon fingerlings they have watched grow in their classrooms for the past 3 months. The 10th Annual Salmon Summit was held at Columbia Park in Kennewick on May 4th near the blue bridge. Throughout the period when the students were watching the fish, they learned about the stages of life for the salmon and about what the name “salmon” means, which is “jumping fish’. Each of the past 10 years the Benton and Franklin Conservation Districts have established this release event, with students putting the fish into small cups and then releasing them into the waters of the mighty Columbia River. It will be approximately 4 years before the salmon return to this area after their long and arduous trip down the river to the ocean.