KNOX – On Thursday, May 25, three Envirothon Teams from Spruce Mountain High School competed at the Maine Envirothon State Championships at the Aghaloma Farm.
The event featured the top 12 teams from four regional events held throughout Maine in the last month. The three teams from Spruce Mountain qualified for the state finals at the South-West Regional back on April 26 at Camp Hinds in Raymond. Teams at the State Championship represented Belfast High School, Brunswick High School, Central High School, Easton High School, Greenville 4-H, Mt Ararat High School, Nokomis High School and Piscatiquis High School. The three teams from Spruce Mountain performed very well, taking first, second and eighth place.
Envirothon is North America’s largest environmental science program, featuring outdoor field competitions in Soil Science, Wildlife Ecology, Forestry, Aquatic Ecology, and this year’s Current Issue, Agricultural Soil and Water Conservation Stewardship.
Spruce Mountain Team 1, consisting of Juniors Bryan Riley and Jordy Daigle and Seniors Austin Gilboe, Will Brenner, Shawn Lecowitch, and Camryn Berry finished in first place, sweeping first place finishes in all five areas of the competition and amassing an impressive total score of 406.5 out of 500.
The team earned the right to represent Maine at the 2017 National Conservation Foundation North American Envirothon at Mt. St Mary’s University in Emmitsburg Maryland July 23rd – 28th where they will compete against teams from nearly every state and Canadian Province. The team’s Current Issue project dealt with agriculture in the Foothill’s Land Conservancy at the head of Wilson Lake. Team members participated in helping the Friends of Wilson Lake with a watershed survey last fall and this project allowed them to connect their experiences gathering data as citizen scientists last year with developing strategies that will decrease the risks facing Wilson Lake.
Spruce Mountain Team 3, an all-rookie team featuring newcomers Tanna Herlihy, Abby Thurston, Acacia Fournier, and Connor Beaulieu, took fourth place in Current Issue and 8th place overall. The team’s presentation on how to restore hay pasture in the Jay Recreation Area earned an average score of 70.7 out of 100 from the three judges, placing them in fourth for that category.
The all sophomore Spruce Mountain Team 2 took third place overall with high scores in Aquatics (76 points, third overall), a tie for first in Forestry with Spruce Mountain Team 1 with 78 points, and 2nd place in Current Issue with an average score of 77.1 points from the judges. Team members include Orion Schwab, Jonathan Brenner, Natalie Luce, Hunter Quirrion, and Gabby Beaudoin. The teams Current Issue presentation focused on how agriculture could be utilized by the Androscoggin Land Trust in developing a hypothetical farming operation on a local Land Trust property. There overall score was a 351.6 out of 500.
Greenville 4H took second place overall with a score of 369.32, finishing 2nd or 3rd in almost every Envirothon area.
“I was really impressed with all three teams’ effort this year,” Spruce Mountain Envirothon advisor Rob Taylor said. “They have put in a great deal of time and energy preparing and they were rewarded for their hard work.”
Taylor said he was most pleased with all three Spruce Mountain teams placing in the top four of the Current Issue category. That requires the teams to solve a real world problem with agriculture, forcing them to stakeholders, gather information from multiple sources, and devise a solution that is sustainable and improves society, the economy, and the environment.
“These kids will be future leaders, solving problems using science, math, and engineering, as well as potentially serving on planning boards, conservation commissions, and in political offices,” Taylor said. “I think we have a bright future with kids like these eventually leading the way.”
The Spruce Mountain Envirothon teams would like to thank all those who helped provide them with assistance and information that was critical to the success of the program this year. A special thanks goes out to english teacher Kym Bryant, The Friends of Wilson Lake, The Androscoggin Land Trust, The Jay Recreation Committee and the Town of Jay, The Foothills Land Trust, Ecological Instincts Inc., James Black of Black Acres Farm, David Pike of Pike’s Farm in Farmington, The Livermore Falls Water District, Franklin County Soil and Water, The Farmington Conservation Commission, The Volunteer Lakes Monitoring Program (VLMP), and The Maine Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts. Without the resources that these and other organizations and individuals provided, the Spruce Mountain Envirothon Program would not be where it is and their help is appreciated.
Congratulations