Students at Three Oaks Senior High in Summerside are this year’s winners of the Provincial Forest Envirothon competition.
Envirothon is an annual science-based competition for North American high school-aged students that Island students have entered since 1999. Winning the provincial competition means the Three Oaks students will represent Prince Edward Island at the 2017 National Conservation Foundation Envirothon in Maryland this coming July.
“My department supports this program as a way to help our high school students learn about ecological processes and how people depend on – and interact with – our environment,” Communities, Land and Environment Minister Robert Mitchell said. “Congratulations to the winning team of students from Three Oaks who took on extra work to learn more about how we can all protect our natural world – your newfound knowledge will serve you well in your role as future stewards of our green province.”
A total of 49 students from seven Island high schools volunteered their time to study forestry, aquatic ecosystems, soil and land use, and wildlife habitats to participate in this year’s provincial competition.
Using teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills, the teams were tasked with developing real-world strategies to help farmers reduce soil erosion problems and conserve more water.
Three Oaks team members included students Karen Farag, Sam Farag, Curtis Lough, Robin Burton, and Allison Meister along with their teachers/advisors Heather Pringle and Chris Higginbotham. Students from Kinkora Regional High School, Bluefield High School, Charlottetown Rural High School, École François-Buote, Morell Regional High School, and Montague Regional High School also participated in the provincial competition.
The National Envirothon competition will be held in Emmitsburg, Maryland July 23 to July 29 with the theme of “Agriculture Soil and Water Conservation Stewardship.”
For more information visit, Provincial Forest Envirothon.
Media contact:
Amber Nicholson
Senior Communications Officer
Department of Communities, Land and Environment
amnicholson@gov.pe.ca
902-368-5286