CURWENSVILLE – On Tuesday the Curwensville Lake and Recreation Area welcomed students for the annual Envirothon. Students from Clearfield Area High School, Curwensville Area High School, West Branch High School, DuBois High School, and DuBois Central Catholic all participated in this year’s event.
The Envirothon is an academic event that is geared toward challenging high school students to think about the environment and the natural world and the role they play in it. It combines in-class curriculum with outdoor training.
According to Susan Reed, director of the Clearfield County Conservation District, the Clearfield County Envirothon has been taking place for about 20 years. The Clearfield County Commissioners allowed this year’s event to take place at Curwensville Lake. Lunch is donated, cooked, and provided to the students by members of the Old Town Sportsmans Club.
Schools are represented by five-member teams. The students are tested in areas such as soils, aquatics, wildlife, current events, and forestry. At the wildlife station students were tested on things like bird calls and feces and skull identification. In aquatics, the students might have to identify different water bugs, fish, reptiles and amphibians, and water pollution, among other topics related to aquatics.
According to Vance Dunbar, an officer of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, “There are a broad range of subjects they are tested on. They are given a couple of months to study and ask questions.” Dunbar also said that if asked, they will go into the schools to help the students before the competition.
There are winners for each station and then an overall winner for the event. The overall winner goes on to compete at the Pennsylvania State Envirothon that is scheduled for May 26 at the PPL Montour Preserve in Danville.