Results are in from the State Envirothon held at Paynes Prairie Preserve State Park near Gainesville last month, and both of our local teams received a category recognition. ‘Green is the New Black’ from Manatee High School-Advisor Pat Zalo received the recognition for Soils/Land Use and the ‘Tree Thuggers’ from Sarasota High School-Advisors Courtney Coppola and Andy Harshman for the Current Issue Rangeland Management. Congratulations!

Manatee High School State Envirothon team ‘Green is the New Black’-L to R-Emma Johnston, Melissa Katzenberger, Nicole Wright, Hannah Cavis, Viana Bravo and Advisor Pat Zalo.

L to R Melissa Katzenberger, Nicole Wright and Emma Johnston from ‘Green is the New Black’ answer a hands on forestry question at the State Envirothon.

Sarasota High School State Envirothon team ‘Tree Thuggers’ L to R Advisor Andy Harshman, Georgia Kate Yeomans, Garrett Gruttadauria, Ryan McKeever, Hunter Burgin, Rachel Mallett, and Advisor Courtney Coppola.

Manatee and Sarasota teams scored in the top 10 in the following categories: Manatee-Soils/Land Use, Forestry, and Oral Question and Sarasota-Soils/Land Use and Current Issue (Rangeland Management).

Kudos to team ‘Underbrush’ from North Bay Haven Charter Academy in Bay County, who is eligible to represent Florida at the North American Envirothon in July at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. For more information visit www.envirothon.org

Our local teams qualified for the state contest by placing first in the Manasota Regional Envirothon in February with 100 students competing, representing seven Manatee and Sarasota county high schools. The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental team competition for high school students, testing their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and this year’s current issue. Manatee River and Sarasota Soil and Water Conservation Districts co-sponsor the annual Manasota Regional Envirothon.

For more information visit www.flenvirothon.com

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