On Wednesday, April 18, EHHS sent two teams to compete in the regional envirothon competition, which took place in Lewis County this year. The competition consists of five 20 minute tests: Aquatics, Forestry, Wildlife, Soils, and Current Issue (Rangelands). Once the teams complete the competition, the tests are scored and posted on a whiteboard. The team that takes first place continues on to the state envirothon competition. After state, the top team heads to nationals, which is held in Idaho this year.
Mrs. McCaleb’s Envirothon team consists of Tate Kinney, Gracie Haynes, Devlin Sheppler, Delanie Livengood, and Andre Walker with alternatives Gracie Delaney and Lexie Larkins. Mr. Flowers’ team included FFA members Lane Cole and Ethan Pendergrass. His team selected the name Flying by the Seat of Our Pants for the competition. Mrs. McCaleb’s team decided to identify as the Sweet Gum Mafia for their repeated mistake of misidentifying the Sweet Gum tree on the Forestry test in previous years. On the way to the competition, Mrs. McCaleb even stopped, when she spotted a Sweet Gum, to remind the team of what the tree looks like.
After the competition, all the teams received meals from Subway. At the conclusion of lunch, the teams were presented with awards, earning each member of the top three teams a medal and a plaque for the top team. Third place was given to Hickman County with a collective score of 276 points. Placing second was Collinwood for a total of 302 points. Mrs. McCaleb’s team placed first with 394 points. The Sweet Gum Mafia was the top performing team in all five of the categories, scoring a 63 in Soils, 70 in Aquatics, 88 in Current Issue, 88 in Wildlife, and 83 in Forestry. This was the fifth year that an EHHS team has placed first in envirothon regionals.
After attaining first in regionals, Mrs. McCaleb rewarded the hard work of her team with ice creams from Sonic. The Hickman County Times acknowledged the accomplishments of EHHS’ Science Club in a short article.
The Sweet Gum Mafia team continued on to the state competition which took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 8 and 9.
The Eagle's Eye 