Seneca High School competes in the New Jersey Envirothon

The Seneca High School environmental club sent a team to the New Jersey Envirothon on Saturday, May 3 to compete against teams from all over the state in a daylong problem-solving competition, with honors, prizes and scholarships at stake. Areas of competition include aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, team presentation and a current environmental issue.

“With an ever-increasing tendency toward the ‘green’ movement, students of today need to be equipped with an understanding of the importance of our natural resources if they are to succeed in today’s world. The New Jersey Envirothon, through months of classroom study and the day-long hands-on competition, arms these leaders of tomorrow with the skills they will need to prepare for careers in environmental science and agriculture,” state Secretary of Agriculture Douglas Fisher said in a statement.

This was the school’s second year participating in the event, and Seneca made its presence known, taking fourth place in the current environmental issue category and scoring 18th overall in the state-wide competition. Team members were Matt Fillion, Colin Harlan, Tiffany Roach, Mackenzie Schulze and Emily Shackil.

The first New Jersey Envirothon was held in Mercer County in 1994. It was hosted by the Mercer County Soil Conservation District, and organized through a partnership of New Jersey soil districts, plus state and federal natural resource agencies. Inspiration came from neighboring Pennsylvania, where high school students had been gathering since 1979 to challenge their environmental knowledge and explore potential natural resource careers. The early competitions were called the

“Environmental Olympics,” later the “Enviro-Olympics,” and then the “Envirothon.” Neighboring states began to offer their own competitions, and the first “National Envirothon” was held in 1988. With the entrance of the first Canadian team in 1992, it became a North American event.

Four teams competed in the first New Jersey Envirothon in 1994. Today, there are approximately 35 to 40 teams competing in the state. The winning team earns the honor of representing New Jersey at the North American Envirothon, where they will compete against other top teams from approximately 55 U.S. states and Canadian provinces.

In preparing for the New Jersey Envirothon competition, Seneca students pursue in-depth knowledge about New Jersey’s natural resources and gain skills needed to navigate the complex environmental issues of today and tomorrow. Guided by a local teacher or parent, the participants use online study guides and attend in-person training workshops provided by natural resource professionals from the various sponsoring organizations. One week prior to the event, students are presented with an environmental issue or real-life scenario for which they must explore the natural resources, implications and stakeholders involved, collaborate to devise a solution and give a team presentation to a panel of judges on the day of the competition.

“It’s really a great event. The students take it seriously and work really hard,” environmental club advisor Matt Downing said. “We’re already looking forward to next year.”