Local students were among the winners of the 2020 “Pennsylvania Envirothon Week.”
Even with Envirothon events being canceled this year, participants were not deterred from testing their Envirothon skills. The contest may have taken place virtually and not outdoors, but the natural drive in these students was evident.
One student from Cameron County and one from Bradford Area High School were among the winners. If there were more than 10 top scorers for any given day, winners were randomly selected from the pool of top scorers.
Prizes for the top scores were awarded for each day. The top 10 scorers each received a $20 gift card.
From the week’s 179 participants who completed all five challenges, three overall winners took away Pennsylvania Envirothon apparel.
More than 300 Envirothon participants representing 110 schools in 47 counties competed in Pennsylvania’s first-ever, weeklong, online Envirothon Challenge. During each day of the Challenge, individuals completed a 20-question quiz that focused on one of the five-station topics: Soils and Land Use, Current Issues, Wildlife, Aquatic Ecology, and Forestry.
“The virtual Envirothon was a nice tool to add to our new distant teaching, learning, and practice,” said Tom Hojnowski, Envirothon coach at Canton High School, Bradford County. “We got many of the students excited as they waited for that exact time to go to their email and start the Challenge, but I was not expecting the level of involvement for the Challenge. I was happy to hear of their feedback after completing their Challenge.”
The partners who made this event possible were Pennsylvania’s Departments of Environmental Protection, Conservation and Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Education; U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service; Fish & Boat Commission; and Game Commission. Event sponsors included: Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, State Conservation Commission, Shell, PSECU, EQT Foundation, UGI Utilities, Weis, Chief Oil & Gas, PPL, and Pennsylvania Trappers Association.
Visit the Pennsylvania Envirothon website for more information at www.envirothonpa.org.
