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

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

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

MMI science instructor and Envirothon advisor Michael Mele said, “All teams represented MMI with the utmost respect and dedication to the content areas, honest competition and collaborative success and I could not be more proud. When one team wins, everyone wins and the kids treat it that way.”

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.