On Earth Day, April 22, 2015, two Eleanor Roosevelt HS teams won 1st and 3rd place at the county Envirothon competition at Camp Schmidt.

Envirothon is an environmental competition that tests students in five different areas, including wildlife, soil, aquatics, forestry and a fifth area that changes from year to year, which was this year urban forestry.

“I was very proud of myself and my teammates” said senior Hilary Bediako, who was a competitor on the team that won 1st place. “I felt like it was a good way to end the school year, and this will definitely be a memorable part for my senior year.”

According to coach and sponsor Ms. Peggy Brosnan, the purpose of Envirothon is “to have students learn about the environment in a detailed way.” The purpose is “to learn and identify wildlife and understand how the changes might affect them,” and to help students “understand the habitat needs,” Ms. Brosnan explained.

Junior Ayesha Baugh, a competitor from the ERHS team that won 3rd place, said that while the competition “was pretty awesome,” she was also “pretty upset.”

“I wanted to get 2nd place, but … we got recognized and this is the first one ever,” said Baugh, referring to the fact that this is the first time she took part in Envirothon.

There are three levels of the competition: county, state and national. The state competition is to be held at St. Mary’s College on June 17-18.

“The students are going to represent PG county if they go to states,” Ms. Brosnan said. “Roosevelt won the county competition a number of times in the past, but [the] highest we placed was 4th place.”

There is a paper test as well as a practical test in the competition. In both parts the students must work together in a team of five. The paper test includes the team answering questions about each topic, such as questions about how wildlife is protected and related laws. The practical test allows the students to have experience in the field.

The members must recieve training on how to use certain instruments, and must practice getting measurements, in order to be prepared for the competition. There are two training sessions, one in the spring and one in the fall.

Sophomore Ben Hung mentioned how tense the competition was for him this year. “It was very stressful and fast-paced. I was very intrigued by the wonderful materials and the vast amount of trees,” Hung said.

Sophomore Yeganeh Dastani, who also took part in the competition, explained that the competiton “required team work,” but at the same time didn’t, as “each person is specialized” in a certain area.

“They did a good job working as a team,” said Ms. Brosnan, who also said that she is “very happy,” and “very proud of them.”