Competition Information

Students Go Green at the 2008 SC Envirothon

High school students from across the state converged at the Clemson Institute for Community and Economic Development on May 2nd to compete in the 12th Annual SC Envirothon. Eighteen teams of between three and five members were tested on their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, wildlife, soils, oral presentations and the special topic for 2008: Recreational Impacts on Natural Resources. Representatives from the SC Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism managed this testing station and provided expert oral presentation judges for this hands-on environmental program.

Donations made to the Envirothon program, grant funds and team registration fees support the program and finance the scholarship awards offered. At the 2008 competition Spartanburg High School Teams B and A won the first and second place awards of $500 for each student and coach, and $250 for each student and coach respectively. Third place went to the Strom Thurmond FFA team at $125 per student and coach, and fourth place was taken by the Calhoun Falls DNR team at $75 per student and coach. In addition to scholarships and cash awards for the coaches, teams that scored the highest at each individual station were awarded a framed certificate, those winners were: Aquatics – Spartanburg Team B, Forestry – Chapin High School Eagles, Oral Presentation – Spartanburg Team B, Soils – Spartanburg Team A, Recreational Impacts on Natural Resources – Strom Thurmond Career Center, and Wildlife – Strom Thurmond FFA. Spartanburg's Team B will go on to compete at the North American Envirothon to be held in Flagstaff, Arizona from July 27th-August 3rd.

Not only is the Envirothon academically challenging to the students, it instills a conservation ethic that the students will carry with them the rest of their lives. The Envirothon Steering Committee, partnership staff and volunteers work extremely hard to provide this opportunity to the high school students of this state. You can support the Envirothon simply by signing a 'Watch Your Water' Pledge (available online) and receive a handy key chain as a reminder of your commitment to safeguard our state's surface and groundwater supplies! General support for the Envirothon comes from the following: Soil and Water Conservation Districts, SC Association of Conservation Districts, Soil and Water Conservation Society, USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service, SC Department of Natural Resources, Harry Hampton Memorial Wildlife Fund, SC Forestry Commission, SC State Parks, Canon Envirothon, Lexington Water and Sewer Authority, Richland County Farm Bureau and private individuals.