This press release was updated on July 13, 2022.
UPPER MARLBORO, MD – The Prince George’s Soil Conservation District (PGSCD) is pleased to announce that Laurel High School won first-place honors in the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon Competition. Potomac High School came in second place. The Prince George’s Soil Conservation District and the William S. Schmidt Outdoor Education Center hosted the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon virtually from April 20th to April 27th. This year, twenty-five Prince George’s County high school students were tested in five categories: aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife, and this year’s fifth issue, “Waste to Resources.” Participating high schools in this year’s competition included Fairmont Heights High School, Laurel High School, Oxon Hill High School, and Potomac High School.
“We are extremely proud of our students who competed in the 2022 Prince George’s County Envirothon competition. We want to give a special congratulations to the winning team from Laurel High School and the runners-up from Potomac High School,” said Steven E. Darcey, PGSCD’s District Manager. “This program wouldn’t have been a success without the hard work and dedication of the local Envirothon coordinators, teachers, and sponsors. We give many thanks to everyone involved. Next, let’s win the Maryland State Envirothon!”
With the help of sponsors, including a grant from the Maryland Association of Soil Conservation Districts, PGSCD donated Envirothon Training Kits to six high schools in the county to help their coaches and teams prepare for the competition. These kits contained numerous materials, including field guides, fish models, male turkey legs, clinometers, tree and log scale sticks, pH soil kits, and soil tools, to name a few.
“We are proud that our Envirothon students are learning content and gaining skills that are essential for addressing local and global environmental issues,” said Donald Belle, Environmental Outreach Educator with the Department of Environmental Education at the William S. Schmidt Center. “We want to build on their enthusiasm by providing methods by which they can address waste and create awareness at their schools.”
PGSCD and the Schmidt Center collaborated with partners from the Maryland-National Capital Park & Planning Commission’s Parks and Recreation division and Maryland’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS-MD) to provide training opportunities and resources to teams and coaches. Each month, Parks & Recreation’s Resource Specialists and NRCS-MD met to develop the interactive and virtual training, competition, review, and awards ceremony to prepare students for the State competition.
Due to field trip restrictions, the Envirothon competition continued to challenge and prepare the winning team for the Maryland Envirothon in a virtual setting. The State competition will take place in person on June 22nd at the University of Maryland Extension Research and Education Center’s Clarksville Facility.* Then, the Maryland State Envirothon champions will advance to the National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon competition held from July 24th to July 30th at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
With more counties and states participating each year, the Envirothon competition continues to expand its reach. PGSCD remains committed to its goal to educate as many students and teachers as possible on the importance of conserving our natural resources to preserve and protect the environment. As always, we are #PrinceGeorgesProud!
*Laurel High School placed six out of thirteen in the state competition and placed second in the soil section.
