By: Andrea Gonzalez

Envirothon, a testing event hosted by the National Conservation Foundation, became a learning experience for 10 students from Flora High School on March 12, 2019.

Since the beginning of the event, over 10 million high schoolers have participated. In 2019, approximately 27 teams competed, with Flora High School placing 20th.

Mr. Branch, teacher of the Horticulture and Woods classes, described the event as, “a very unique competition where all five students work together.” Instead of testing separately like in other events, students are able to exchange information and help each other.

A diverse competition, Envirothon involves testing in five different areas such as aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and a random fifth category. The students are chosen based on their own background knowledge.

To prepare, the students read through the varying literature the school has on the environmental sciences.

In the event, two teams are allowed to participate per school. For FHS, one team consisted of Daniel Lewis, Grant Behnke, Bristol McCalister, Matthew Beard, and Mary Martin. The other team consisted of Clay Warren, Jennifer Fulk, Daniel Britton, Allie Winters, and Allie Hildebrand.