Envirothon attracts students from all over

Photo: Claire Harbage

DIGGIN' IN THE DIRT — Dirigo High School’s team 2 looks at the soil horizons in a freshly dug pit during the Southwest Regional Envirothon at Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield. They get 30 minutes to gauge the soil and complete their test at each station. From left, Silvia Lutick, Michael Chow, Jeremy Grignon and Jason Baldinelli.

OTISFIELD — The Southwestern Maine Regional Competition of the Envirothon was held at Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield, May 17 bringing high school students from their classrooms to answer questions about the environment, and play in the dirt.

Students from 10 different schools in southwest Maine enjoyed the idyllic setting on Pleasant Lake and a day of freedom from school. Some students had been studying for the competition all year in classes, and others had joined clubs out of mutual interest in the environment.

They all participated, in teams of 3-5, by attending five different stations, answering questions, making identifications, and presenting their research.

Each of the stations had a different topic, including wildlife, aquatics, forestry, soils and a current natural resource issue. The soil station was the most hands-on. There were two freshly dug pits for students to climb into. They had to inspect the soil horizons, judge the soil and gauge the slope of the land using a clinometer, among other things.

Many of the students weren’t familiar with using the clinometer and needed some help. Dave Wilkinson, a soil scientist that works for the Natural Resource Conservation Services, recognized that, “You can’t just walk over the land and see [the soil], you have to dig into the earth. So it’s a little more challenging for them.”

Each station was led by a team of expert judges. They worked for places like the State Department of Agriculture and the Maine Forest Service. Many of them had come to the Envirothon to judge for many years. Dave Rocque, from the State Department of Agriculture was proud to be a part of the Envirothon, and appreciates it for its ability to shape the students’ futures.

“If they learn something about these issues here,” he said, “then if they go on to be on a planning boards, 20-plus years later, they are more aware of the issues.”

The wildlife station saw teams identifying skulls, paw prints and pelts. “Our whole year has been spent in preparation for this,” said Lucy Grass from Greely’s 2nd team. The team made of all girls was chattering away about a number of topics unrelated to the test as they circled around the bench covered with pelts and filled out their test sheet.

“Remember that practice test we did?” Emily Colesworthy suddenly shouted excitedly, “This was on it!” The Evirothon is very much like a day-long test. “There’s a whole lot of math and science in every aspect of it,” acknowledged Jean Federico, from the Oxford County Soil & Water Conservation District, who helped organize the event.

Though many students studied hard in Environmental Studies classes, the winning team from Lisbon High School did the Envirothon as an extracurricular activity. They were part of a club formed around the environment.

Lisbon High School’s Jen Smith said he reason for participating was: “I really like being outside, and the outdoors.” Her teammate Sarah Giraldo added, “I want to find ways to help the environment.”

By winning, Giraldo, Smith and their teammates Logan Mcguire, Brenton Laffely, and Kohen Steele will go on to the state competition. There they will compete to continue on to the international competition, which includes students from Canada. The Lisbon team humbly accepted its award and had to rush to get back to school on time.

Bethany Moore knows a little about winning. A past participant, Moore’s teams won the state competition three years in a row. This got her an internship with the Farmington Field Office and helped her on college applications. She came back this year to reach out to younger students about careers that are available in the environment.

Now that Moore is following her dreams, she can see how the Envirothon has shaped her life. “It’s interesting to look back and see how it was a club for me to play in the dirt,” she happily reminisced, “and now it’s influencing what I do!”

She is currently at Boston University studying Bio-medical Engineering with a concentration in Energy Technologies and Environmental Engineering. Moore plans to use this degree to research how contaminants in the soil and water affect human health.

Many of the students at the Envirothon were interested in learning about how they could continue this kind of work as a career. The event was filled with useful learning opportunities and many expert adults who helped guide the students. Though not all of the students will continue to study environmental science, many will find that this day influenced their lives in some way.

There were student volunteers from Poland Spring Academy, as well as many adults that kept things running smoothly. “All the counties consolidate and help for this,” explained Fran Head, a volunteer.

With community support, these students are finding huge benefits in the study of environmental science. As they continue to learn and grow, the students will be able to give back to the community and environment around them.