Carmichaels team places 10th at State Envirothon
A team of Carmichaels students placed 10th at the 37th Pennsylvania Envirothon state competition, which was sheld virtually last month. Pictured are team members Sophia Zalar, Brooke Watters, Spencer Conard, Faith Willis and Alex Lawrence.
Courtesy of the Greene County Conservation District
The Carmichaels team is photographed competing at the 2021 Greene County Envirothon, which was held in April at Hunting Hills in Dilliner. The team placed first at local competition and went on to the virtual state Envirothon, where they placed 10th.
A team of Carmichaels Area High School students placed 10th during the 37th Pennsylvania Envirothon state competition, which was held virtually last month.
High school students from 58 Pennsylvania counties participated in this year’s event.
The Carmichaels team had the highest score of all teams in the state in the “Soils” station with a 92, second highest “Current Issue” score of 78 and a total score of 472 points for the competition.
Only 29.33 points separated 10th and first place this year.
For achieving 10th place honors, the team – comprised of members Brooke Watters, Spencer Conard, Faith Willis, Sophia Zalar and Alex Lawrence, with team advisor Kevin Willis – was awarded a wooden plaque made from Pennsylvania hardwoods. For the high station score, the team received a plaque.
This year marks the 15th year in a row a Carmichaels team has placed in the top 10 at the State Envirothon.
The team placed first in the state in 2018 and 2019.
In 2019, the team placed third in the world at the NCF-International Envirothon.
The team placed second in 2006 and 2010; third in 2014, 2016 and 2017; and fourth in 2011 and 2015.
In 2012 and 2013, the team placed fifth in the state; in 2009, the team placed seventh; in 2008, the team placed eighth; and in 2007, the team placed 10th in the state.
The 2020 Envirothon competitions were canceled.
Five-member teams participated in a series of field station tests that focused on five topic areas – soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues as part of the Envirothon event. The 2021 current environmental issues focused on “Water Resource Management: Local Control and Local Solutions.”
This year, only the top-scoring 15 teams prepared and delivered oral presentations to panels of judges who evaluated each team on its problem-solving capabilities, oral presentation skills and recommendations to help solve the specific environmental challenge, which related to the current environmental issue.
At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania’s 66 county conservation districts, State Conservation Commission, and Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts.
The Carmichaels team who competed in the state completion placed first in the 34th Greene County Envirothon held in April at Hunting Hills in Dilliner.
For more information on the Envirothon program, call the county conservation district at 724-852-5278 or visit www.envirothonpa.org.