Chester County Commissioners Marian Moskowitz, Josh Maxwell and Michelle Kichline recognized three high school teams from Chester County at a recent public Commissioners’ Meeting, for their accomplishments in the 2021 Envirothon student competition.
Academy at West Fallowfield Christian School seniors Jacob Hershey, Bryce Engle, Rose Rowe, Dustin Kauffman and Joey DellaPenna formed a team that earned the title of overall first place winners and champions of this year’s Chester County Envirothon. The team, coached by teacher Chris DellaPenna, will represent Chester County at the Pennsylvania State Envirothon on May 10 and 11.
A team of seniors from Conestoga High School placed second in this year’s Chester County Envirothon, and Team “B” from West Chester Bayard Rustin High School placed third.
This year’s virtual Envirothon competition featured 11 teams of high school seniors from eight schools across Chester County. All teams in the competition explored the important facets of current environmental issues, with this year’s theme focusing on finding solutions to Water Resources Management.
Gaye Lynn Criswell, Envirothon Coordinator at the Chester County Conservation District, said, “We are very proud of all of our Chester County Envirothon students who competed this year, as they had to make special concessions and compete virtually.
“We also thank the team coaches for their willingness to adapt to the virtual competition and appreciate the time and effort they made to ensure this was a very successful event.”
Because of restrictions impacted by the pandemic, the 2021 Envirothon did not include competition at the middle school and elementary school level. Instead, staff from the Chester County Conservation District and Chester County Parks + Preservation Department have prepared Envirothon learning videos that highlight aspects of the five environmental learning stations – aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and the 2021 theme of water resources management.
The Chester County Envirothon, which has been in place for nearly 35 years, is a component of the Pennsylvania Envirothon Program. The competition is a cumulative process that addresses awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and application of environmental issues.