Cromwell-Wright students headed for state Envirothon

• Cromwell-Wright team

The Cromwell-Wright team of Jared Hutar (left), Justin Britton, Cheyenne Lemm, Emily Warpula and Karissa Sworski show off their first place trophy at the Area Envirothon competition May 7. The students are now headed for state competition, along with another Cromwell-Wright team that placed third. Contributed Photo

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The Cromwell-Wright Envirothon teams participated in the Area Envirothon on May 7 at the Cloquet Forestry Center. The teams did very well, and the school’s first- and third- place teams will go on to the state competition on May 21 in Savage, Minn.

The Envirothon is an outdoor environmental learning competition for high school students. Area competitions are administered by the state’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts, in partnership with conservation organizations, educators, and other natural resource agencies.

The Envirothon promotes a desire for students to learn more about Minnesota’s natural resources, as well as public policy and roles of government and landowners in managing the state’s resources. The program helps students develop critical thinking skills, cooperative problem-solving skills, and decision-making skills.

Schools and teachers benefit by providing a learning opportunity to students who excel in the sciences and ecology. The community and state benefit by having concerned and well-informed citizens who can make good

decisions about the environment.

Teams of students compete by visiting five learning stations and taking a 20-point exam on an environmental topic. The topics include aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and low impact design.

Cromwell-Wright students participated in the Envirothon for the 17th consecutive year. Out of the 35 teams participating in this year’s event, Crowell-Wright teams placed first, third, fifth, ninth, 23rd and 31st.

The first-place team headed for state includes Jared Hutar, Justin Britton, Cheyenne Lemm, Emily Warpula and Karissa Sworski. The third-place team, also headed for state, includes Mikhaela Anderson, Vallerie Talley, Melanie Thomas, Samantha Suhonen and Allie Cahoon. Fifth-place and Spirit Award winners were Annie Morrell, Lenore Collman, Garrett Hackensmith, Josh Taylor and Keegan Warner.

Tags: carlton county, cromwell, education, environment