Envirothon 2016

Here is the Envirothon Report for 2016….but stayed tuned for later this summer because there’s more news to come…. Read on…..

Winged Deer Park was the site of the April 20th Regional Northeast Tennessee Envirothon.  Six schools brought teams: Cloudland High School; Daniel Boone High School; David Crockett High School;  Dobyns-Bennett High School; Johnson County High School; and Unaka High School.

A total of 11 teams competed and 2 teams (of freshman) shadowed. The top 5 scoring teams were:

1) David Crockett

2) Unaka

3) Daniel Boone

4) Cloudland

5) Dobyns-Bennett.

But all teams seemed to have a great time outside learning real life outdoor skills in the sunshine. And they are part of a national event. According to the National Envirothon website, each year 500,000 people from 4,000 public and private high schools across North America participate in the competitions.

David Crockett and Daniel Boone stayed for an additional 2 hours after the competition to do some very appreciated service work at the Park, pulling invasive species trees out of the park with Connie Deegan and 3 ETSU students.  Thank you all!

Thank you to the following partners for providing set up, and testing and grading services–and for showing youth about environmental jobs:

Johnson City Parks & Recreation, Connie Deegan; TN Dept. of Environment & Conservation, Robert Tipton and colleague; Washington County Soil Conservation District & NRCS, Mara Holley, John Morrow, Nathan Hartgrove, and Greg Quillen; Knox County NRCS, Anthony Kiehl; Sullivan County Soil Conservation District, Allee Kitchens and Brandon Hite; Appalachian RC&D Council volunteers Lexy Close and Jim Baines.

Stay turned for more news in August, because ….

David Crockett has won the state Envirothon and will be going on to represent Tennessee at Nationals in Ontario, July 24-29. Join me congratulating Ryan Arnett and his team. In the 23 years that Envirothon has been offered in Tennessee, this is a first time that a team from the Northeast region will go on to Nationals The Tennessee Envirothon was held May 4-5 in Crossville. Teams competed in four areas of environmental studies: soils, aquatics, forestry, wildlife. Test questions are not only written, but many require hands-on observations, measurements and calculations, including identification of native animal pelts, tracks, trees, aquatic indicators, soil science and geography.

State competition is concluded with students performing a creative team presentation based on this year’s current issue, Invasive Species: A Challenge to the Environment, Economy and Society.

David Crockett’s team presentation was outstanding and earned them a major lead to win first place. According to team member, Cole Tipton, “the judges liked our unique approach treating it like a real world education presentation. The prompt was using an actual legal case. We spent a lot of time creating a pamphlet that you really could pass on to the public.  Plus we went out into the woods and found the actual invasive species to bring to the presentation. “

According to the team’s coach, CTE instructor and FFA club leader, Ryan Arnett, “these students have been super motivated all semester. They really want to go to Canada.”

Arnett competed in Envirothon in the 1990s when he was in high school and has shepherded several teams through the process.

When asked what she gains most from Envirothon, team member Kylee Phalen said it’s all about teamwork. “I like it because it’s all about working with the team. You get to know each other better.”

The team consists of Kenzie Bastian Cole Tipton Josh Bruni Brett Barnett Kylee Phalen.

At National Envirothon it is expected that over 50 teams will be competing for the honor of winning and the cash prizes. The team welcomes all donations to help them with their travel costs. Tax deductible donations can be made to the Appalachian RC&D Council, call 423-979-2581.