The Warren County Envirothon returned to Chapman State Park on Friday, pitting about 90 students from 18 local teams against one another.

They tested their knowledge in four areas: aquatics, forestry, soils, and wildlife.

It was the first in-person, team Envirothon in the county since 2019. “We’ve very excited to be back in-person,” Warren County Conservation District Watershed Specialist Jean Gomory said.

The first-place varsity team, with 295 points, was the First Place Flamingos from Youngsville High School. Team members were Fawne Hackman, Bryceton Maille, Alex Hill , and Dilyn Moore.

Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Trenton Mead (left) and Alex Richards of the Sheffield Blue Sharks work on an aquatics problem Friday at the 2022 Warren County Envirothon at Chapman State Park.

They will compete in the State Envirothon on Wednesday, May 25, at Camp Mount Luther in Mifflinburg.

The Thick Forest (Warren Area High School) came in second with 253.5; the Bullfrogs (Tidioute Community Charter School) finished third at 238; and the Purple Gerbils (Sheffield Area High School) with 214 ended up in fourth.

In the junior varsity division, Team Blue (Beaty-Warren Middle School) finished in first with 249 points.

The Pollywogs (TCCS) with 217.5; Salamander Squad (Sheffield Middle School) at 202.5; and the Snail Squad (SMS) with 184 rounded out the top four in the junior varsity.

The special topic for the event was Waste to Resources. Students were asked to consider the impact of waste and think about questions such as “How can we make responsible choices about our waste? How can we manage our growth in a way that is sustainable? How can we turn our waste into resources?”

There was an esteemed guest at Chapman for the event this year.

Meghan Stewart was part of winning Envirothon teams six times – four while in Warren Area High School and two more in middle school at the junior varsity level.

Her secret? Hard work. “Countless flash cards. Early mornings. Late nights,” she said. It’s a team event — no one has to answer every question. “Divide and conquer,” she said.

“It inspired me to be a teacher,” Stewart said. “I wanted to keep doing Envirothon and share that with other kids.”

She teaches science at Sheffield Middle School and is the junior varsity advisor there.

The event has numerous benefits. “You don’t know where it’s going to lead them – whether they go into education or forestry or the Pennsylvania Game Commission,” she said. “It’s important to connect to your own back yard.”

And, “in addition to learning about the environment, you learn how to be a team player and the motivation of being rewarded for hard work,” Stewart said. “It’s important for them to see that you place value in something,” she said. “That’s what’s valuable to me.”

While returning to the event was a goal, being there was “terrifying,” she said. “I would love to be taking the tests with them, but I’ve done all I can to prepare my students.”

“I’m very proud of their hard work,” she said. “They come to my room every day to study with me.”

Sometimes, she doesn’t have to do much preparation for an Envirothon class – “I have all my flash cards,” Stewart said.

She wasn’t only proud of her students.

“All the kids here have done work and have an interest in nature,” Stewart said.