Where Did All of the Fish Go?: Reviving the Heart of School Culture

by Stephanie Golden

Every school has its symbols—mascots, mottos, murals—but few carry the quiet weight of tradition like a tank full of fish. In Where Did All of the Fish Go?, Stephanie Golden (Dr. G) uses the true story of a school aquarium nearly discarded to explore a deeper What happens when the small things that hold a school’s culture together begin to disappear?

Through powerful storytelling, leadership insight, and a surprisingly moving metaphor, this book invites school leaders and educators to reflect on how culture is built, how it drifts, and how it can be reclaimed. Dr. G takes you inside the rhythms of school life—from feeding time to foggy glass—and shows how ordinary rituals reveal extraordinary truths about what students and staff need to feel connected.

Whether you're leading a campus, coaching a team, or simply trying to keep your school’s “water” clear, Where Did All of the Fish Go? will challenge and inspire you to preserve what matters most.

44 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 10, 2025

About the author

Got the Girl Scouts' Writer badge (the only one that interested me) when I was 12: that signaled the future. I began writing fiction, but discovered that what really compelled me was literary nonfiction—especially once I developed a way to use a central image as a method of analysis.

An image constrains and focuses thoughts while still allowing great freedom in moving around within it: you can come at your material from many different directions without losing coherence, since the analysis acquires its form from the structure of the image.

I used this method for both my literary nonfiction books:

• For The Women Outside, a study of homeless and marginal women, it was the figure of the witch.

• For Slaying the Mermaid, about women and self-sacrifice, it was Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid.

Literary nonfiction didn't pay the rent, but I like writing books, so I became a book collaborator and wrote five other books with experts.

And since for a freelancer diversifying = security, I started writing all sorts of other things: magazine articles, newsletters, reports for nonprofits, grant proposals, training manuals, and lately websites.