The Area 5 Soil and Water Conservation District held its annual Envirothon on April 30 at Racoon Creek Park in Gallipolis. The competition is designed to stimulate, reinforce and enhance interest in the environment and natural resources among high school students.
Each student on an Envirothon team is challenged to test their knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatic ecology and current environmental issues. The following schools represented Highland County by participating in this year’s Envirothon: Lynchburg-Clay High School coached by Lara Hamilton, Hillsboro FFA coached by Libby McNeal and McClain High School coached by Ashley Kesler.
The top four scoring teams from each Area Envirothon are eligible to compete in the State Envirothon and this year the Lynchburg-Clay Mustang team won first in the competition. The Lynchburg Clay Gold team placed third and Lynchburg-Clay Tadpoles ranked fourth, making all three teams eligible to compete in the state contest to be held on June 10-11 at Franciscan University in Steubenville.
The first place Lynchburg-Clay Mustang team was made up of Leah Bauer, Kara Williams, Kurt Hamilton, Austin Leininger and Allison Kohus.
The third place Lynchburg-Clay Gold team included Bridget Wilkin, Sydney Morris, Rees Morris, Kelsey Arnett and Hailee Waits.
The fourth place Lynchburg-Clay Tadpoles team members were Tiah McLean, Katie Kirk, Nova Pohl, Daniel Bauer and Clay Brown.
The Hillsboro FFA team included Katie Craig, Brock Haines, Ryan Harless, Alora Brown and Jaiden Hughes.
The Greenfield McClain Tigers membetrs were Connor Snavely, Harley Penwell, Hannah Helterbrand, Abby Dhume and Justin Hall.
Submitted by Pam Bushelman, Highland SWCD, district operations manager.
