Dallastown’s team, the Hellbenders, placed fifth in the senior high division at the York County Envirothon competition on April 21 at John Rudy Park.
Envirothon is the world’s largest environmental education competition for high school students. It originally began in Pennsylvania in 1979 under the title “Enviro-Olympics.” Now, over 47 US states and nine Canadian provinces participate in the competition – along with teams from China and Singapore.
During the local competition, students competed using their knowledge of aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, soils and land use, and current environmental issues, and the Hellbenders, named after North America’s largest salamander, placed second in soils.
This year, the Hellbenders consisted of six members: seniors Sara Deimler, Brynn Flannery and Kathleen Ratchford, junior Ryana Zhelezov, and sophomores Riley Fletcher and Jack Osborn. They each put their time and effort into their specific category as well as the whole competition in general.
To achieve the rewards of fifth place, students had to put in many hours to learn everything they could.
“We prepared everyday after school on Tuesdays and in our own time. We also went to practice sessions led by trained, experienced speakers who each specialized in a field. They had real life experience in their careers and helped create the test, so they were super informative, thorough, and passionate,” Fletcher said.
Despite all the hard work, the students enjoyed themselves and had fun.
“I’m happy about Dallastown Hellbender’s performance! I’m just glad I was a part of it! “ Zhelezov said.
“My favorite part is working with people and learning together. The team aspect is super enjoyable,” Fletcher said.
