Carmichaels places fifth in state Envirothon

Carmichaels Area High School Envirothon team placed fifth in the 2013 State Envirothon competition held May 21 and 22 at Juniata College.
High school students from 61 Pennsylvania counties participated in this year’s event. Carmichaels represented Greene County in the competition.
The Envirothon is an environmental education and natural resource program. It consists of the annual state competition in which winning teams from participating counties compete for recognition and scholarships by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management.
The Carmichaels team placed first in the county Envirothon, sponsored by the Greene County Conservation District. The team includes teacher and coach Kevin Willis and members Douglas Kowalewski, Mackenzie Metcalf, Floretta Chambers, Philip Mikalik and Ashley Dotson.
The team had an oral component score of 90.67 and a total score of 494.67 points out of a possible 600 for the competition. It was awarded two wooden plaques made from Pennsylvania hardwoods, along with reference books on reptiles and amphibians of Pennsylvania.
This year marks the eighth year in a row the Carmichaels team has placed in the top 10 at the state event. The team placed second in 2010 and 2006 and fourth in 2011. Last year’s team also placed fifth overall 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.
At the Envirothon, five-member teams participate in a series of field-oriented tests that focus on five topic areas, soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and environmental issues.
The 2013 current environmental issue focused on grazing and pastureland management. The teams also prepared and delivered oral presentations to judges who evaluate each team on its problem-solving capabilities, oral presentation skills and recommendations to help solve the specific environmental challenge, which relates to the current environmental issue.
York County Homeschool won this year’s event scoring 550.67 points. The York County team will represent Pennsylvania at the North American Envirothon.
At the state level, the Envirothon is sponsored by Pennsylvania’s sixty-six conservation districts, the State Conservation Commission and the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts. The program is managed by a board of directors representing those sponsors. Technical expertise is provided by numerous agency partners.
The Pennsylvania Envirothon awarded scholarships to the first, second, and third place teams. The scholarships were sponsored by Pennsylvania’s County Conservation Districts and Pennsylvania Envirothon. Each of the top 10 teams received a plaque and other prizes.
For more information on the Envirothon program, contact your county conservation district or contact the Pennsylvania Envirothon by phone (814) 623-7900 ext. 111, Email paenvirothon@pennswoods.net, or visit the website at www.envirothonpa.org.