BETHLEHEM, Pa. — Two teams of Lehigh Valley students have advanced at the state Envirothon after winning local competitions.
A team from Saucon Valley High School won Northampton County’s Envirothon on April 17 at Louise Moore County Park in Lower Nazareth Township, according to Northampton County Conservation District officials.
The team included Stepan Goudsouzian, Navair Goudsouzian, Jacob Norwood, Kyle Chi and Ryan Pakzad.
Bangor Area High School’s Team Maroon placed second, and Team White, also from Bangor, placed third.
Emmaus High School’s Team Birch won first place in Lehigh County’s competition, held last week at Covered Bridge Park in South Whitehall Township, said Laura Hopek, environmental education and outreach coordinator for the Lehigh County Conservation District.
That team included Rio Johnson, Elizabeth Patterson, Mathilde Guillon and Cecilia Ruyak.
What is the Envirothon?
Essentially a scholastic scrimmage for environmental science, the annual Envirothon combines classroom learning and outdoor activities to engage students in the environment.
Each team, made up of five students and an adviser, is tested in a handful of topics, including wildlife, forestry, soils and land use, aquatic ecology and a current environmental issue.
This year’s theme is "Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change.”Pa. Envirothon
This year’s theme is “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change.”
"The state competition will be held in two parts," Northampton's Envirothon Coordinator Carrie Cevicelow said.
She said avirtual segment consisting of the students presenting a 12-minute video followed by an eight-minute Q&A session will be scheduled for one of four days from May 15–17.
The in-person station testing segment will be at Windber Recreation Park, Windber, Somerset County, on May 21.
Last year, teams from Saucon Valley and Emmaus also advanced to the state competition. Saucon Valley ended up with 13th place, while Emmaus placed 44th.
