MMI Preparatory School won third place in the Luzerne County Envirothon competition. The team consisted of Nathaniel Neidlinger, Kathryn Sissick, Nathan Sissick, Blake Warren, and Jessica Zheng.

They advanced to the state competition, which is to be held at Camp Mount Luther on May 24. The state Envirothon will be a one-day event, including an “oral component” test along with the other stations.

MMI had 13 teams compete in this year’s event.

MMI science instructor and Envirothon advisor Michael Mele said, “We definitely had an amazing showing and learned an immense amount about our local environments. I’m proud of everyone who engaged in this effort!”

The Pennsylvania Envirothon is one of the state’s largest natural resource education competitions. It provides thousands of students with the knowledge and tools to address the natural resource challenges facing today’s world. During the competition, teams participate in a series of tests that focus on five topic areas – soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues. Additionally, the teams complete an oral presentation, which provides them with the experience of developing a presentation that is based on a written scenario. The testing station and oral presentation scores are combined to determine the winning team.

The first Envirothon competition was held in 1979 by the Fulton, Luzerne, and Schuylkill conservation districts. By 1984, the program expanded to a statewide competition and then nationally and internationally. Now, more than 15,000 high school students across the state compete in 67 county Envirothons.