SUMMIT STATION — Sydney Allar’s “tricks” include finding a way to easily remember sounds.
“A Pickerel Frog is the one that sounds like Mr. Eckert snoring,” Allar, a Blue Mountain High School junior, said. She shared her technique as part of Blue Mountain’s winning Team 1, “Porky Pets” at Tuesday’s 37th annual Schuylkill County Envirothon.
Blue Mountain posted a clean sweep, winning top honors in the elementary, middle school and high school divisions of the contest. The high school team — comprised of seniors Jill Heffner, Sarah Palerino and Courtney Steinruck, and juniors Austin Boyer and Allar — will represent the county at the state envirothon competition held later this month. The state winner then travels to national competition this summer.
Richard Eckert and Randy Metzger serve as the team’s advisers, along with assistance from Anne Cryer.
On Tuesday, 43 teams of school students from around the county met at the Schuylkill County Fairgrounds and Environmental Education Center in Summit Station to test their environmental knowledge. The envirothon revolves around five environmental subject areas: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and a current environmental issue. The 2016 current issue focused on invasive species.
Palerino said the bird calls this year were challenging.
“I thought I knew most of them, but there were four or five that I just wasn’t sure of,” she said.
The Porky Pets have been practicing before homeroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and more recently, have met every morning of the week to prepare.
The Envirothon is coordinated by the Schuylkill Conservation District and tests teams about their knowledge of the environment and is designed to increase their “awareness of interrelationships that exist in the world,” said Patrick M. “Porcupine Pat” McKinney, environmental education coordinator for the conservation district and event coordinator.
For Antoinette Antonini, a St. Ambrose seventh-grader who was part of “The Greek Grouses” team, this was her first time competing in the envirothon.
“I liked the soils competition. They had a lot of posters, and it was very interactive. I liked that,” Antonini, 12, said.
Meanwhile, another St. Ambrose competitor, Cole Andrefski, 11, enjoyed the wildlife contest.
“I really like animals and I thought being a part of this team would help me learn more about how they live and what they go through in their lives,” he said. “I really liked going through the forest, looking at statues of the animals and even learning bird calls.”
McKinney thanked the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority for its continued support of the envirothon.
“Water quality and water conservation are issues that are of prime importance for both the authority and the conservation district,” he said.
The event was also supported by Gordon Foods for paper products and some snacks and also by WJP Engineers for scoreboard and scoring assistance, according to McKinney.
Local representatives of the PA Game Commission, PA Fish and Boat Commission, DCNR-Bureau of Forestry, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chesapeake Bay Program, Department of Environmental Protection, and the Schuylkill Conservation District provided technical assistance.
Three tiers of competition are held for different grade levels. “Snoops” are teams in elementary grades, “Investigators” are middle school students while “Scientists” are high school students. The winner of the “Scientists” category represents Schuylkill County at the state competition to be held later in May. The following school districts participated: Blue Mountain, Saint Clair Area, Assumption BVM, Pine Grove Area, Mahanoy Area, Nativity BVM, North Schuylkill, St. Ambrose School, St. Nicholas School, Tamaqua Area, Tri-Valley, Williams Valley and Pottsville Area.
Peggy Hentz, a wildlife rehabilitator and educator, with Red Creek Wildlife Center, Schuylkill Haven, presented a program on the center’s animals and on conservation, while students waited for competition results.
Jenna Fehr, Schuylkill Conservation District manager and an envirothon alumnawith the Pine Grove team, thanked students for their participation. She announced the Bear Creek Festival would be held from noon to 4 p.m. May 15 at the fairgrounds, and encouraged students to share information with their families about the free event.
Commissioner Gary Hess read a proclamation from the Schuylkill County Commissioners in recognition of National Drinking Water Week held from May 1-7, 2016, with the theme: “Your Water — to know it is to love it.”
Hess said, “Thank you to our future leaders for stepping forward and helping to take care of our environment and natural resources. You become role models for other people by telling them what you learned today.”
Hess also thanked the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority for its continued support of the envirothon.
SCMA Executive Director Patrick M. Caulfield and Assistant Director Amy S. Batdorf assisted McKinney with the award presentation. Caulfield also presented a $2,500 check on behalf of SCMA for the envirothon.
The winners of the 2016 event are as follows:
The Dave Huntzinger Memorial Soils Award was presented by members of Huntzinger’s family to Blue Mountain, Team 1, Porky Pets. The team also claimed first place in wildlife and aquatics.
Snoops (elementary)
1st- Blue Mountain Elementary East, Team 1, Eastern Eagles, 244 points
2nd - Blue Mountain Elementary Cressona, Team 1, Cressona Critters, 238 points
3rd - Saint Clair, Team 1, Legendary Llamas, 217 points
4th - Assumption BVM, Team 2, Crazy Crayfish, 216 points
5th - North Schuylkill, Team 2, with 209 points
Investigators (middle school)
1st - Blue Mountain Middle School, Team 2, Wren in Black, 317 points
2nd - Pine Grove Area Middle School, Team 2, Round Goby Wranglers, 311 points
3rd - Mahanoy Area Middle School, Team 1, Gold Team, 308 points
4th & 5th place (TIE) - North Schuylkill, Team 1, Mighty Bucks; Saint Clair, Team 1, Garter Snake Warriors, both with 307 points
Scientists (high school)
1st - Blue Mountain High School, Team 1, Porky Pets, 383 points
2nd - Blue Mountain High School, Team 2, with 285 points
3rd - North Schuylkill, Team 1, Wild Wolves, 271 points
4th - Pine Grove, Team 1, The Good, The Bad & The Cow, 252 points
5th - Williams Valley, Team 2, Nematodes, 249 points