More than 73 high school students convened at Florida State University- Panama City campus recently to take part in the Emerald Coast Regional Envirothon.
The Envirothon is North America’s largest high school environmental education competition. Reaching more than 500,000 students across North America annually, the Envirothon’s mission is to develop knowledgeable, skilled, and dedicated citizens who are willing and prepared to work towards achieving a balance between our quality of life and the quality of our environment.
The Envirothon provides an excellent opportunity for high school students to expand their knowledge of our environment and to learn about environmental professions that they may one day pursue while helping keep the panhandle of Florida the biologically diverse resource that it is today.
Under the guidance of their educators, students formed 5-person teams and began studying selected environmental resources. After months of studying, outdoor test stations were set up to challenge the teams in five categories – forestry, aquatic ecology, soils, wildlife, and a current environmental issue.
Winners of the Emerald Coast Regional Envirothon were:
1st place: North Bay Haven Charter Academy – Team Underbrush.
2nd place: Bozeman High School – Team Awesome Aggies.
3rd place: Bozeman High School – Team Fifteen Kiwi.
Category Winners include:
Soils – Bozeman High School Awesome Aggies.
Aquatics – North Bay Haven Charter Academy Underbrush.
Current Environmental Issue – North Bay Haven Charter Academy Underbrush.
Forestry – Bozeman High School Awesome Aggies.
Wildlife – North Bay Haven Charter Academy Underbrush
The winning teams will move forward in the competition compete against other counties across Florida to become the State Environthon Champions. For more information about the Emerald Coast Regional Envirothon competition or forestry-related topics in Bay County, please contact your local forester, Joe Vanderwerff at (850) 691-0809 or Joe.Vanderwerff@FreshFromFlorida.com.
The Florida Forest Service, a division of the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, manages more than 1 million acres of state forests and provides forest management assistance on more than 17 million acres of private and community forests. The Florida Forest Service is also responsible for protecting homes, forestland and natural resources from the devastating effects of wildfire on more than 26 million acres. Learn more at FloridaForestService.com.