Editor’s note: Sondra Baker, Coordinator of Illinois State Envirothon, submitted this article.
We would like to take a moment to congratulate the Illinois Envirothon team from Chicago Lab School in Cook County, IL, on a job well done at Nationals!
The Illinois team took 7th place out of 54 teams representing the U. S., Canada, and China. They also earned top score on the Oral Presentations. This was no surprise to us here at the Illinois Envirothon, after their impressive presentation here at State. For this high score, the team members each won a print from a local artist and brought home $1000 for their sponsoring organization, the Illinois Envirothon!
The winning three teams brought home a combined $30,000 in cash prizes. This a great start for students going to college or to help out schools with education.
Encourage your schools of the value of competing at the local level.
Go to our Illinois Envirothon Facebook page for a link to the competition photos. Lots of great things are happening at the National level. Who knows? Maybe we will adopt a few!
Congratulations to Chicago Lab School and Cook County. We are proud of you!
What is the Illinois Envirothon? It is part of a continental environmental competition for high school students. Envirothon is a unique approach to educating high school students about the natural world around them. Participating schools have teams of five students who work together to take written tests, as well as to develop and present a problem-solving oral presentation. They learn about aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and a current environmental issue, which changes each year.
Illinois is just one state that participates in this competition. For the National Envirothon there are 42 states and four provinces of Canada that compete for the top prize of $2500 in college scholarship money and other prizes. The program popularity is growing rapidly at the continental as well as the state levels.
Please contact your local Soil & Water Conservation District to find out how you can get started in this competition.