Posted on 04/02/2004 3:22:24 AM PST by The Other Harry
Thursday, April 1, 2004
Home-schooled students win 'Envirothon'
Winners move on in competition to foster environmental awareness
By BERTRAND M. GUTIERREZ
News Virginian
STAUNTON - If your city had a river that constantly flooded, causing expensive property damage, what would you do about it?
The question was one of many hurdles Valley high school students faced during the heated Envirothon competition in Gypsy Hill Park here Thursday.
They may be students, but they could teach elected officials how to down-zone, hire an arborist or use hydroponics.
These are the future stewards of communities, parks, lakes and forests, said Sandy Greene, a member of the organizing Headwaters Soil and Water Conservation District office, in Verona.
The contest is a series of hands-on, oral and written tests. Teams go from station to station, strutting their knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics and environmental issues.
"We have a real hotbed of competition in this area," Greene said. "This is the cream of the crop."
All teams have worked since the winter on their presentations on how to fix their community’s flooding problem. Other planning issues also were addressed: housing, historic preservation, schools, farms and businesses.
Rebecca Leatherwood, a Wilson High School team member, pointed to a poster board and said during her presentation: "We incorporated some of the elements of Staunton’s downtown revitalization into our own project."
Teammate Samantha Floyd added: "We tried to take the cheapest and most effective route possible and still make it a nice place to live."
Jim Nichols, a Waynesboro resident and member of the Headwaters Soil and Conservation District, was impressed.
"We have students who know more about what’s going on than the people in government do," he said.
Six schools with five-member teams jockeyed for the local title and a shot at the regional contest in Front Royal next month. The winner of that contest could go to the state and national Envirothons.
Waynesboro High School was not represented - even though one of the key questions was about flood damage. City officials have grappled with the question for years. Neither Laurie McCullough, director of instruction, nor Superintendent Lowell Lemons could be reached Thursday afternoon for comment.
Fort Defiance High School was the defending champion. Last year, the team won the local, regional and state competition. On the national stage, they placed 12th.
But coach Brent Hull said his first-string team graduated last year. Only one member remained. Still, he had high hopes for the up-and-comers.
Fort Defiance came in second this year, ceding the top spot to a group of home-schooled students, all from Augusta County, while Stuarts Draft placed third.
Al Bourgeois, one of the 4-H/Homeschoolers coaches, said the competition was tight.
"The kids, whether they’re in high school or home school, they just buckled down," he said.
The top three teams were joined by Wilson and Robert E. Lee high schools, as well as the Central Shenandoah Valley Regional Governor’s School, in competing for the local title.
Middle River High School, from Botetourt County, and Rockbridge County High School also competed, but for their respective regions.
Organized by the soil and water conservation groups in each state, Envirothon began in 1979 in Pennsylvania and became a national competition in 1988. Virginia schools entered the fray in 1995.
"These are the kids who are the future of natural resources," said Greene, the Headwaters conservationist.
Contact Bertrand M. Gutierrez at bgutierrez@newsvirginian.com
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That struck me also. Overall, I think the reporter must be some kind of wussie, C average intern from the local JC. Whoever wrote that will do fine writing puff pieces about weddings and the like for local Sunday suppliments on a volunteer basis.
In a larger sense, that was just plain bad reporting in several respects. It takes the lead sentence and then completely disregards it. It disregards darn near everything that has any substance. It includes a lot of gratuitous names, but it is close to empty otherwise.
If I were the newspaper editor, I'd call that reporter into my office and thank him or her for all the excellent service. Now get out of here. That one would get a pink slip as fast as I could hand one out. The entire process might take five minutes.
Then I'd spend the rest of the day trying to figure out how that person got into the place to begin with. It wouldn't happen again.
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