Benet students participate in National Envirothon
Five students from Benet Academy in Lisle recently represented Illinois at the National Envirothon in Pocatello, Idaho.
The annual event is sponsored by the National Conservation Foundation and is hosted by a different state each year.
The Benet team featured five students: Sarah Habeck, Ryan Habeck, Brice Dirl, Kaylie Scorza and Paul Skaluba.
A team from each of 43 U.S. states, five Canadian provinces, and two Chinese provinces vied for the top spot.
But the week offered much more than competition for students.
The students participated in field trips, training sessions, hands-on activities, a visit to a geyser, and country dancing.
A great part of each day was spent outside in the desert heat, which topped 95 degrees.
The students studied desert ecology, toured potato farms, visited a ghost town and the Soda Springs geyser, learned about the local geology including seeing steaming lava cones, crossed portions of the Oregon Trail, and learned to square dance in a horse barn.
Firsthand accounts of the business side of farming and the economic issues surrounding ranching and farming were provided by discussions with local cattle ranchers and potato farmers. The students made new friends from around the country and the world.
The actual competition consisted of tests on five environmental topics: forestry, wildlife, soils, aquatics and this year's special topic, "Rangelands."
All teams presented their critical 20-minute formal presentation to a panel of judges, in which they provided their recommended solution to a real-world environmental problem scenario.
The Illinois team placed 16th overall out of 50 teams.
New York took first place.
This was the first time the Benet team participated at the national competition.
More information about the NCF-Envirothon can be found at www.envirothon.org.
A spreadsheet of the results can be seen at www.envirothon.org.