Despite being in its first year of participation, Noblesville High School won first place in the Central Region Envirothon Competition. Now NHS has its eye on the State Envirothon Competition on Wednesday, April 25 with the opportunity to win and represent Indiana at the North American Envirothon this summer. The Envirothon is a fun and exciting way for high school students, homeschoolers, 4-H’ers, Scouts, Green Club members and FFA members in grades 9-12 to learn about the natural world around us and compete against other teams with the knowledge gained.
Central Indiana historically has not had a close Regional Envirothon contests available to students. Organized by the Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation with their mission to provide leadership in natural resources conservation, high school students from Central Indiana now have a venue to learn and test their knowledge on high quality conservation subject.
“It is important that our youth understand that conservation of natural resources includes the responsible use of resources from forests to soils. We want to encourage students interested in natural resources to see what is involved with these subjects, what types of careers are available, and what it means to be involved in conservation,” states Ginger Davis, Conservation Administrator with Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) and event coordinator.
This first competition in this area brought seven teams from the region. The teams included schools that have competed before at other regions, like Zionsville High School and Pike High School, along with newcomers like Noblesville High School and Delta High School from Delaware County. The full day event kicked off with some inspiring presentations from experts in their field. The students had an opportunity to ask tough questions to help them fully understand the subjects they were tested on during the competition. The competition began after the students fueled up on lunch. The teams were tested on their knowledge of forestry, wildlife, soils and land use, aquatic ecology, and this year’s current issue: Pasture management. Noblesville High School Team placed first with 66 points. Pike High School Team One placed second with 60 points, and Zionsville High School Team Armadillos placed third with 57 points.
“The Envirothon competition was a wonderful hands-on learning experience in environmental issues. The knowledge gained from the experts was invaluable. We are excited and thankful to be representing Noblesville High School and the Central Indiana Region at the state competition in April,” shared Alexandra Brownell, Noblesville High School Envirothon Coach and AP Environmental Science Teacher.
Darci Zolman, Indiana Envirothon President added, “The students should be very proud of their accomplishments. The Envirothon competition is a tough competition and tests a high level of understanding for each of the subject areas.”
Hamilton County SWCD coordinated this event with the help of surrounding county SWCDs and public-private partnerships. Sponsors helped make the day a success by providing speakers, funding, or food to support the event and students. This year’s sponsors included Smithfield Foods, The Nature Conservancy, Arbor Terra, Hoosier Heartland RC&D, Indiana Department of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Services and Madison, Tipton, Marion and Hamilton County Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
For more information, visit hamiltonswcd.org/envirothon.html or envirothon.org.