XENIA — Despite it being their first year competing together, one Cedarville Envirothon team wasn’t worried.
By the time the team of five, made up of sophomore and junior high schoolers, reached the end of the forestry round of questions at Caesar Ford Park, they actually felt pretty confident in their work. They had already completed current environmental issues and soils, and just had aquatics and wildlife left.
“I didn’t expect how it was — it was a lot more serious than I thought it was going to be,” Karie Yake, junior, said. “Going through the questions it’s also a lot easier than I thought it was going to be. It’s kind-of common knowledge, but at the same time, you have to read into the context.”
Junior Anna Winter said their biology and agriculture classes had prepared them for the Ohio Area IV competition.
“I think it’s made it easy — coming from Cedarville — because a lot of our classes are teaching us about all of this stuff so I’m like, ‘Oh, I learned this in my agriculture class.’ And so it’s actually stuff that we can see, working through and doing it,” she said. “In my class in the fall this year we did ribbon testing with the soils and that’s what we had to do here to identify the soils. It’s the exact same thing.”
In the forestry area, teams used a diameter tape to measure the circumference of a tree, identify the type of tree and answer related questions. Students were given 25 minutes at each station and could not use electronic devices or reference materials.
Greene and Fayette Soil and Water Conservation Districts hosted the event, which was sponsored by the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation districts and the Ohio Department of Agriculture, Division of Soil and Water Resources.
“The event is designed to stimulate and reinforce students’ interest in our environment and our natural resources while encouraging cooperative decision making, team building, and problem solving,” said Greene Soil and Water Conservation District Educator Lee Eltzroth. “The Envirothon encourages group problem solving and team building as well as promotes an increased interest in sciences and environmental issues.”
Regardless of the scores at the end of the day, the Cedarville team was happy to practice their skills in the park for the first time.
“I think it’s really cool to show the different ways that we can use our agricultural skills to depict different things,” Wes Wickline, junior, said. “And how just all of the skills that we’re using can be used in life and all of the different opportunities you can get just from this program.”
Out of 75 teams, Greene County was represented in the competition with Beavercreek teams taking 8th (85 points) and 37th (67 points), Cedarville teams taking 54th (57 points) and 56th (54 points), and Legacy Christian Academy taking 57th (53 points). The first and second place winners were Centerville teams with 100 points and 94 points.
