NEWS FROM THE DELAWARE DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL
Vol. 40, No. 319
For more information, contact Michelle Jacobs, Community Relations Officer, 302-739-9921; or Joanna Wilson, Public Affairs, 302-739-9902.
Charter School of Wilmington takes 2nd place at 2010 Canon Envirothon
DOVER (Sept. 15, 2010) - A five-member team of high school students from Charter School of Wilmington took second place in the Canon Envirothon, North America’s largest high school environmental competition, held during the first week of August. The announcement was made during the closing ceremony of the weeklong national competition held at the California State University, Fresno, and sponsored by Canon U.S.A., Inc.
The team from the Charter School of Wilmington qualified to represent Delaware in the North American competition after placing first among teams from eight high schools and a 4-H club from throughout the state that competed in the Delaware Envirothon competition held April 29.
More than 270 teenagers from 45 U.S. states and 9 Canadian provinces studied environmental issues and resource conservation, while competing for a share of more than $125,000 in scholarships and Canon products. The Canon Envirothon tests teams on their knowledge of soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and a current environmental issue. Additionally, students must prepare and give an oral presentation based on the current issue.
This year’s current issue was Protection of Groundwater Through Urban, Agricultural and Environmental Planning. Competing teams analyzed the long-term and short-term impacts of natural environmental occurrences and human activities on genes, species and ecosystems, relative to how each may influence or directly impact their future.
The week is full of activity with hardly a minute to spare. Sunday, the arrival day, included a team photo session, opening ceremonies with a presentation of state/province flags followed by a team trading session. Monday was a full day of training and Tuesday was a full day of testing. After testing on Tuesday the students were treated to a visit to a local water park to unwind.
Everyone was back to work again on Wednesday as they received training all morning on the current environmental issue, which gives them the information they need to develop their oral presentations. Teams were then sequestered for eight hours in order to prepare their oral presentations to be given the next morning.
The preliminary round of oral presentations began at 8 a.m. on Thursday morning and ended at noon. After lunch the top five teams of the preliminary round were announced and they then had to give their oral presentations a second time to a separate set of judges. Charter’s decision to spend their lunch time fine-tuning the presentation in the hopes that they were amongst the top five oral presentations paid off. They were announced as one of the top five and after giving their presentation in the final round, they earned the highest score for the oral presentations. From this score their overall placement was determined.
On Thursday evening Charter team members Mitali Desai, Neelima Agrawal, Christine Kurian, Karthik Siva and Claire Yang were each presented a $4,000 Canon scholarship during the closing ceremony and awards program for their second place finish. They were also honored for their first place finish in the aquatic ecology category.
More than 500,000 students competed on the local level throughout North America during the past year to earn the privilege of representing their state, province or territory at the Canon Envirothon.
“I liked the fact that we got to meet people from all over the country and Canada and talk to them about what their lives are like,” said team member Claire Yang. “The whole competition, I think, really promotes a sense of community despite the fact that we're all there to compete.”
Karthik Siva, a Charter School junior, was thankful for the Delaware Envirothon affording him and his teammates the opportunity to visit the Yosemite and Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks. “I really enjoyed having the extra two days to be able to experience a different side of nature that California has to offer.”
The students and their chaperones returned home to a surprise party organized and hosted by the Kurian family. Members of the school board, a spokesperson from DuPont, the school president, a few teachers, friends and family members welcomed home the team and congratulated them on the second place finish.
The Delaware Envirothon is sponsored by the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts. Members of the planning committee represent: the Sussex Conservation District; the Kent Conservation District; the New Castle Conservation District; the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control: the Delaware Department of Agriculture; Delaware Forest Service; the University of Delaware - Cooperative Extension; Delaware Nature Society; Artesian Water Company; the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service; the Delaware Center for Inland Bays; and the Delaware Solid Waste Authority.
If you are interested in learning more about the Delaware Envirothon program, please visit www.delawareenvirothon.org.
For more highlights of the Canon Envirothon and for pictures from the 2010 event, please visit www.envirothon.org.
