Carmichaels Area High School students get high marks at state Envirothon
news@greenecountymessenger.com
Vying against other high school students from 63 Pennsylvania counties, the team representing Greene County from Carmichaels Area High School placed seventh overall at the 2022 State Envirothon Competition.
This marks the sixteenth year in a row that the team has placed in the top 10 at the State Envirothon.
Students on the 2022 Carmichaels team include Brooke Watters, Sophia Zalar, Spencer Conard, Faith Willis and Alex Lawrence.
The Envirothon Competition is made up of two components, an oral presentation, done this year via Zoom, and an in-person session, held on May 25 at Camp Mount Luthor in Mifflinburg. For the oral section, the team was given a scenario on May 6 that asked them to give alternatives to expanding a landfill in a 10-minute video of their own creation. The team submitted its video to a panel of five judges on May 19. After the judges viewed the video, the team engaged in a question-and-answer session with the panel.
“When we were given the landfill scenario, all five of us met for a week,” said Brooke Watters, team captain. “We had so much to say that it was difficult editing the video down to the 10-minute time frame. We did, however, have a lot of input from experts [from EQT] and former Envirothon participants.”
Watters admitted that the in-person sessions in Mifflinburg were the most challenging, but also, the most fun.
“I got to be hands-on with something I’m passionate about,” said Watters, who intends to major in geology and minor in soil science at West Virginia University.
Traditional state testing in the in-person session evaluates team performance in four universal areas – soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and a different current environmental issue each year.
At each station, written tests assess each team’s knowledge of the specific resources at that site. For example, the forestry station relates to forest ecology, forest structure and composition, regional tree and plant species, and silvicultural and forestry practices. The aquatic ecology station relates to aquatic ecosystems, species diversity and aquatic resource management.
The soils/land use station relates to land formation, use of a soil survey, and land management practices, and the wildlife station relates to wildlife ecology, conservation and management practices, regional wildlife species, and issues involving wildlife and society.
Station testing is designed to provide a challenging, hands-on opportunity for each team to demonstrate and apply its knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management.
As teams rotate through each of the five testing stations, they experience a variety of testing formats. Most tests include some type of identification, including wildlife tracks or mounts, bird calls, skins, fish, macroinvertebrates, trees, soil textures and soil horizons.
At each station, teams receive a brief introduction to the specific site. The test is usually administered by a natural resource professional with expertise in that field. Students spend 25-35 minutes at each testing station with a five-minute period for questions and review, and a five-minute period for travel between stations.
Sophia Zalar, a junior at the high school, placed second in the wildlife section at the state competition with a score of 94.
“The first three or four questions dealt with identifying birds from their calls,” she said. “I identified birds like the Pennsylvania ruffed grouse, barred owl and a blue heron [by listening to their calls]. I had a great time going to the state competition, and, as I enter my senior year, I’m looking forward to next year’s Envirothon.”
Expenses to get to the Envirothon site in Mifflinburg were financed by the school district with help from EQT, the Greene County Conservation District, Greene Team Pellets and BeeGraphix. Some of the donors also provided professionals and experts in their filed. EQT, for instance, provided expertise in the area of waste management and experience in landfill permits.
Additional help came from the Harry Engstrom Chapter of the Isaak Walton League, which connected multiple county schools with support from outside the state via Zoom.
“The students who participate in Envirothon have the benefit of discovering a career they may not have know about,” said team advisor Kevin Willis. “It gives them a chance to learn more about these various fields of study, and some of our students have gone on to make careers out of subjects they discovered through Envirothon.”
Willis himself was a Carmichaels student Envirothon participant in 1989 and also went to the state competition in 1990 (where his team placed 11th) and 1991, when they came in 4th.
“I want my students to have the same great experience at Envirothon as I did because it made such a great impact in my own career,” he said.