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Power To Save: Competing Over Knowledge of Nature in Envirothon

LAKE WALLENPAUPACK — Teenagers in the Poconos learned about the world around them on Thursday and competed with other high schools in the process. The Env...
envirothon

LAKE WALLENPAUPACK -- Teenagers in the Poconos learned about the world around them on Thursday and competed with other high schools in the process.

The Envirothon is a statewide competition and schools in Wayne and Pike Counties were testing their knowledge

Wayne and Pike County high school students were doing the job of foresters, listening to the sound of birds to identify their calls, and learning the creatures that come from the waterways around here.

It was a day of outdoor discovery at the PPL Educational Center. The shore of Lake Wallenpaupack became the home to the Wayne Pike Envirothon.

"We are here to compete, we're here to kick butt, get first place and get to states!" said Delaware Valley student Brandon Brown.

This is a competition. Students from the four high schools in the two counties were tested on their environmental knowledge.

"We've been preparing for this for months but it is hard. It's very challenging," said Western Wayne student Catherine Tuman.

Teenagers living in Wayne and Pike Counties have lakes, rivers, water, woods, and nature all around them, but these students say most kids their age don't pay any attention to it.

"We're probably not going to come in first, but we're kind of just gaining experience and knowledge about nature, which is cool because we're surrounded by it all the time here at Wallenpaupack," said Anne Monte, a Wallenpaupack student.

These girls go to high school right next to the lake.

"Nowadays with technology, people don't stop and appreciate what is around us, and I mean, I'm one of those people," Monte said.

But Envirothon has changed that for her and many of the students here.

"I think it's absolutely very important to know what's going on in our environment, especially in Pennsylvania, we have a lot of invasive species. We were saying this morning, you may look around and not even know what's natural anymore," said Brown.

The team with the most knowledge of nature wins and goes on to the statewide competition.

UPDATE: The 2015 Pike/Wayne Envirothon was won by the Wallenpaupack Area School District team called Tanmolashwesonio of Wallenpaupack, second place went to Here’s Johnny…Darter, and third place went to The Avengers all from Wallenpaupack Area School District.

The first place Wallenpaupack team will represent Pike County at the state Envirothon event at University of Pittsburgh in Johnstown and the Windber Recreation Park on May 19-20, 2015.

The highest scoring team for Wayne County,The Buzzy Bees from Wayne Highlands School District, will represent Wayne County at the state event.

Wallenpaupack 1st place Envirothon team 2015

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