WASILLA — “This is a jig stick. Drop the shrimp down the hole by unwrapping the line. Most importantly, when you have a fish on your line, what do you yell?”

The cold and wind could not muffle the enthusiasm when the chorus shouted, in unison, “Fish on!”

The kids responding were members of Partners Clubs throughout the Valley.

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“Partners Club is a club that is designed to bring students with disabilities together with their peers in social settings, recreational settings and also through unified sports,” said Heather Brandon, organizer of Friday’s ice fishing event.

As they huddled around holes in Finger Lake, students with and without special needs helped each other as their Partners Club fought for the day’s prizes. On hand were the clubs from Wasilla and Palmer high schools, Wasilla and Palmer Next Step programs and Finger Lake Elementary.

“It’s going to be challenging. We got bright sun, we got a little bit of wind, and we’re in the middle of the day. We’re just coming off a period where’s there was high oxygen content and the fish were sluggish. But, all the indicators are that these fish are going to bite,” said Larry Ouellette, director of the Next Step programs for the Valley.

The Next Step programs help special needs students transition between high school and the working world.

“These kids are still eligible for services until they’re 22, but after you go through four years of high school, typically you’re 19 years old. You need more immersion in the community,” Ouellette said. “We’re working with different services in the community to establish what their adult life is going to be like, what kind of meaningful activity are they going to do.”

As Ouellette dragged his hut into place, Brandon explained that, while this is the first ice fishing event, the Partners Clubs have been around the Valley for seven years. Sponsored by Special Olympics, the clubs form teams to compete in bowling, floor hockey and track every year.

The outing Friday was more of a field trip for the students.

“At the high school level, we have academic requirements in order to be a partner and to participate in these activities where you would be losing instruction time,” Brandon said. “They have to have good grades because we’re looking for good role models.”

In addition to the existing clubs, Brandon is trying to establish branches at Colony and Houston high schools and local middle schools.

“Partners Club is designed to make students aware of kids with disabilities so that they carry that into adulthood,” Brandon said. “The younger we start the better.”

The woman giving the directions and handing out the jig sticks was Samantha Oslund, a representative from Fish and Game. Oslund, along with a handful of state troopers, were on hand to help scoop ice out of the holes.

“I hope this becomes an annual event,” Oslund said. “They’re out here fishing. That’s the whole point. For a lot of these kids, this is the first time they have ever fished. It’s kind of an honor to be here for that.”

In addition to the fishing, the group held a barbecue at the Palmer Elks Lodge and had a fish kissing booth. Prizes were given out to the club that caught the most fish, the largest fish, the longest fish and the best picture of a student kissing a fish.

“You have to kiss the first fish of the year,” Ouellette said. “It’s just bad luck if you don’t.”

Contact Todd L. Dister at todd.disher@frontiersman.com or 352-2252.