Top Envirothon honors go to Canon-Mac
C-M Gold Team, 2nd Place – Pictured, back, from left, are Maggi, Jeffrey Kim, Mikayla Bayto, Chase Chambers, Geist, Strosko and Iams, and front, Katie Blanock and Abby Daniels
The 2018 Washington County Envirothon competition was held on May 3 at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsmen’s Club, with 81 students participating in the event.
The high school competition, which has teams of five students testing their knowledge on five environmental topics, has been held in Washington County for 33 years.
The teams competing this year represented eight high schools: Avella, Bethlehem-Center, California, Canon-McMillan, Chartiers-Houston, McGuffey, Ringgold and Washington.
Teams tested their knowledge in aquatics, forestry, current issues (benefits of grassland and pasture management), soils and land use, and wildlife. This year’s Envirothon saw the team’s highest winning score in more than a decade.
Chartiers-Houston, 3rd Place – Pictured, from left, are Maggi, Elizabeth Engle, Andrew Kowalski, Brian Price, Jacqueline Mannina, Josh Colletti and Iams
For the second year in a row, Canon-McMillan took the top two spots. First place went to Canon-Mac Blue Team with a total of 409 points. Second place went to Canon-Mac Gold Team (375 points), and third place went to Chartiers-Houston (326 points).
The winning team members each received a $500 scholarship for the higher education path of their choice thanks to sponsors CNX Resources Corporation, MarkWest Liberty Midstream & Resources, EQT and the Pennsylvania Envirothon.
Conservation District staff and instructors for each station included: Russel Gibbs (PA Bureau of Forestry), Tom Ulrich (WCCD), Chuck Kubasik and Joe Laslo (PA DEP), Alex Dado, Kim Moninger, Jason Mihal (USDA-NRCS) and Dan Sitler (PA Game Commission).
The members of the winning team from Canon-McMillan will go on to compete at the State Envirothon representing Washington County, May 22 and 23 at Susquehanna University.