ABOVE: From left to right, competition sponsors Dorthy Anglin of Smithfield Foods and Jeremy Roy of Farm Bureau pose with George Simpson, Theo Livas, Jinny Han, Jasmine Lui and Lucy Yang.  Photo courtesy of the Kentucky Division of Conservation.

By Johnna McHugh

Division of Conservation

A team from Paul Laurence Dunbar High School in Lexington won at the Kentucky Envirothon competition May 18-19 and are moving on to represent Kentucky at the North American Envirothon competition at Trent University in Peterborough, Canada on July 24-29.

And winning for this team is nothing new.  This is the second year that the team has won the competition. These five seniors, George Simpson, Jasmine Liu, Jinny Han, Lucy Yang and Theo Livas, have been competing together in the Envirothon competition since they were freshman.  In addition to having the highest overall score at the Kentucky Envirothon this year, this team was also recognized for having the highest score in the oral presentation competition, as well as the highest scores on the soils and forestry tests.

As state winners last year, these five students made the Commonwealth proud as they ranked 12^th out of the 52 teams competing at the North American Envirothon.  Team coach Carly Burton said, “I’m so proud of these kids.  They set a goal for themselves to win state their junior and senior years, and they really put in the work to make sure that happened.  I’m excited to see what they are able to do in Ontario!”

North Laurel High School was the highest-scoring team affiliated with a local FFA chapter. Their team will represent Kentucky at the Environmental and Natural Resources Career Development Event, which will take place in conjunction with the National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana, in October.

One of the teams from Madison Southern High School scored the highest on the invasive species test.  The aquatics and wildlife tests were won by the team from the Gatton Academy.

Kimberly Richardson, director of the Kentucky Division of Conservation, said, “The Envirothon competition gives these students a chance to learn more about our natural resources in practical and hands-on ways.  As future leaders, it’s important that they understand our environment and how environmental systems work together.”

It is also important that kids and schools get involved.  More information on the competition and how to enter can be found at http://conservation.ky.gov/Pages/Envirothon.aspx.

The Kentucky Envirothon competition is sponsored by Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts, Kentucky Corn Growers Association, Kentucky Small Grain Council, Kentucky Farm Bureau, Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Smithfield Foods, Kentucky Association of Conservation District employees and Kentucky Association of Conservation Districts Auxiliary.