Greensburg Salem, Derry, Norwin tops in Envirothon competition

High school students from across the county gathered Thursday at Twin Lakes Park to test their knowledge of the natural world during the 2023 Westmoreland Envirothon competition.

With each high school having entered at least two teams, about 125 students rotated among six stations in the park, which is east of Greensburg. Each station focused on a specific topic with timed tasks for the students.

Topics included aquatics, forestry, wildlife, soils and changing climate.

Team 2 from Greater Latrobe, a group of ninth graders, studied the competition’s setup and attempted a game plan to give themselves an edge. Karlee Clark, Bevan Stairs, Elise Wolfgang, Matilda Price and Gabriella Simone-­Lurito each picked a topic to master and took turns leading the group during their time at each station.

First-time competitors said they studied for months to prepare for the competition.

“During our lunch and our free periods, we would go down (to our teacher’s classroom) and work on learning about leaves of different trees,” Clark said. “We even went on a field trip to Winnie Palmer Nature Reserve to learn about the different animal skulls and pelts.”

Price seemed almost surprised when she said her team’s strategy was “actually doing pretty well” at that point in the competition.

Some teams did not have the luxury of strategy. Derry Area students Hermione Lehosky, a ninth grader, and Steph Luther, an 11th grader, competed as a duo. Two Derry Area teams were missing competitors, leaving Derry’s third team with two challengers. Both girls said they had been chosen to participate in the competition by their agriculture teacher, Carly Rippole.

Lehosky said she felt a lot of pressure before the competition. Not only was it her first time at an Envirothon, she was also the only ninth grader picked to represent her high school.

“There’s an Envirothon app,” Lehosky said. “I went through that. I studied fish, learned bird calls, and my mom helped me study a lot. I tried to just learn everything that I could.”

“I had a homeroom meeting with Miss Rippole, and we went over the outline of what to expect at the competition,” said Luther, another first-time competitor. “I found out from there what I should be studying and what I should focus on.”

The wildlife station was hosted by state game wardens. The officers had the students identify bird calls, complete a written test, identify bird skulls, identify animal pelts and look through binoculars to identify a photo of a bird that was printed out and posted on a tree.

Members of Burrell High School Team 3 went over slideshows of animals to prepare for the wildlife portion of the competition. They also leaned on Kaylynn Crawford, an 11th grader, their eldest teammate.

“I’ve just had more science classes than they have,” Crawford said. “I’ve already taken biology and environmental science. I have the most background knowledge.”

“She’s leading us really well,” said Madisyn Kemp, one of Crawford’s ninth grade teammates.

Josie Garofalo, a ninth grade member of Greater Latrobe Team 1, said many of her school’s participants were in the high school Growth Opportunities for Advanced Learners program, which she equated to the gifted program. Members need to meet a quota of competitions such as the Envirothon each year to remain in the program.

Teams competed for more than three hours. They were not allowed to talk to other teams — though a few competitors were spotted waving to their friends — or use their phones during the competition.

Greensburg Salem Team 1 took first place, with Derry Area Team 1 and Norwin Team 1 following in second and third place, respectively.

As the winning team, Greensburg Salem will represent the county in the state competition next month at Camp Mt. Luther in Mifflinburg.

(Editor’s note: This story has been corrected.)