WOODBURY – Aquaculture students in Leanne Foster’s junior/senior aquaculture class held the end-of-the-year crawfish boil May 22. Both students and foster parents have been looking forward to this day since the beginning of the year.

Every year is something different. Last year, aquaculture students made fishing poles from scratch at the end of the year. The year before was another seafood boil. Every other year, the class will either focus on marine biology aquaculture studies, then switch to freshwater studies. This year, the aquaculture classes focus on freshwater studies, therefore leading up to the crawfish boil. 

Senior aquaculture student Chloe Walsh is fond of both the build-your-own-fishing-pole activity to the crawfish boil.

“The fishing rods were a fun hands-on experience for the class that I really enjoyed,” says Walsh, “but I find that this was more directly correlated to the classroom coursework and it was a blast collaborating with others.”

Not only were students excited, but so was Foster. This was her second year hosting the crawfish boil with her junior and senior aquaculture class. 

“I was pretty excited about it since the beginning of the year,” says Foster. “It was something that was in the works since last year. There’s a lot of prep that can go into a crawfish boil: where are we going to get the pots, where would we cook the crawfish, and also the space where to prep the food beforehand. We have to plan ahead so we can have time in the food lab.” 

Students were able to make their own seafood boil sauce to go along with the crawfish. Students had to research recipes, and bring in their own material and ingredients. Students had to find a recipe online that would go with the boil. Many students chose a butter-based sauce as it was the easiest and also the most common. 

“I wanted a good sauce,” says senior aquaculture student Arabella Rosa. “I wanted something more traditional, and did not want a heavy sauce, and my partner didn’t want a heavy sauce, so we both decided on a light butter sauce with a lot of vegetables.”