Belgreen wins state Envirothon

By Staff
Melissa Cason
The Belgreen High School Envirothon team brought home the top prize at the Alabama Envirothon state competition for the second year in a row.
Sponsor Cindy Fleming said the students traveled to Columbiana for the competition and competed against eight other schools.
"There were only eight schools there this year, but we competed against some really big schools," Fleming said.
This is the second year in a row that the Belgreen team has earned the top spot in the state, and the third time the group has won the competition.
"We won it last year of course, and we went to the national competition in Arizona," Fleming said. "We also won the state competition in 2002."
Fleming said the group did not place at the national competition, where there were 55 teams competing since Canada participates in the competition as well.
"They only recognize the top 15 schools on the national level and we did not place last year," Fleming said. "But, it was still a learning experience for the team."
This year the national competition will be held in Ashville, N.C. the first week of August.
"Last year, we had several donations to help fund our trip so we didn't really have to fundraise," Fleming said. "We are beginning to look at funding this year's trip to North Carolina."
Alabama Envirothon is an annual competition where teams compete for recognition by demonstrating their knowledge of environmental science and natural resource management. The teams, each consisting of five high school-aged students from participating counties, use their prior knowledge and problem-solving skills to complete a series of five tests and prepare a twenty minutes presentation regarding an environmental problem. While attending the competition students are trained by professionals in the areas that they will be tested on: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and a current environmental issue.
Training for Alabama Envirothon begins early in the school year. Franklin County schools have been very successful in encouraging students to become involved in their early years of high school so that they will be able to attend the competition more than once.
Alabama Envirothon is an effective educational tool, capable of supplementing environmental education both inside and outside the classroom. Led by a volunteer advisor, teams usually meet from late autumn until spring. Teams work collaboratively to develop their knowledge of ecology and natural resource management and to practice their environmental problem-solving skills in preparation for Alabama Envirothon and Canon North American Competitions.