California High School Students Take First Place at 2010 Canon Envirothon

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USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service

Aug 09, 2010, 02:52 ET

DAVIS, Calif., Aug. 9 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students from Arlington High School in Riverside took first place at the annual environmental education competition on August 5, held at California State University in Fresno and Reedley College in Reedley, California. This was California's best showing in its 18-year history in the competition. The top five winners for 2010 included Delaware, Minnesota, Florida and Maryland, respectively. California also took first place in the Soils station.

The California Envirothon Host Committee is very pleased and proud of the accomplishments of the Arlington High students," said Sharon Boyce, Committee Chair and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) employee. "This school has a very intensive natural resources education program, and Arlington teams typically place very high in the state competition. Therefore, it is quite gratifying to see their hard work come full circle with the first place award in this competition."

Over 270 teenagers—grouped into five-person teams from 45 U.S. states and nine Canadian provinces—competed in North America's largest competition of its kind. The students were housed and had their oral presentations at California State University-Fresno, and completed their field testing at Reedley College. At stake was a share of $125,000 in college scholarships and prizes. Each student from the California team—known as the Arlington American Lions—received a monetary scholarship, a Canon camera, and a medal. Students on the Arlington High School team are: Team Captain Alexis Wood, Elizabeth Murry, Elijah Kenan, Kristen Treat and Cory Davis. The team advisors were Sheri Harris, Diane Stephens and Brian Frost.

In previous Envirothon competitions California teams placed 4th in 2006 in Winnipeg, Canada, the first time that a California team made it to the Top Five; 10th in North Carolina in 1994; 10th in Nova Scotia in 2000; and first place in the Current Issue station in Missouri in 2005.

During the weeklong international competition, many NRCS employees and Earth Team Volunteers helped plan and staff the event, and participated as a Final Orals judge.

The theme of this year's competition was "Protection of Groundwater Through Urban, Agricultural and Environmental Planning." Students analyzed the long-term and short-term impact of natural environmental occurrences, social and economic factors and human activities on ecosystems relative to how each may influence or directly impact natural resources and their management.

During the competition, each team's environmental knowledge is tested under the supervision of natural resource professionals—such as wildlife specialists and soil scientists—and a panel of judges evaluates their teamwork, problem solving and presentation skills. The Canon Envirothon is the culmination of a series of education competitions that annually involves some 500,000 high school students from throughout North America.

An Envirothon team is comprised of five students and their advisor. The team studies from a curriculum of aquatics, soils, forestry, wildlife, and a different current issue topic each year. The students learn to perform tests hands-on to arrive at their answers to written tests. For example, at the aquatics station, the students are expected to perform titrations to find pH and dissolved oxygen, as well as other aquatics testing.

Teams are sponsored by their local Resource Conservation Districts (www.carcd.org). More information is available on the Web for the California Envirothon at www.caenvirothon.com, or the Canon Envirothon at www.envirothon.org.

To learn more about how schools and teachers can participate in the California Envirothon program, which meets state educational standards, contact Sharon Boyce at (209) 722-4119, ex. 115.

SOURCE USDA - Natural Resources Conservation Service