BELLOWS FALLS — One of three teams representing Bellows Falls Union High School in a state environmental science competition will represent Vermont in the North American Envirothon Competition in Springfield, Mo. in July.
Bellows Falls sent three teams to the state's annual Envirothon Competition: the A-Team, which won the best overall score for the competition, as well as the B-Team and an Alternates team.
Susan Steiner coaches all three teams and joined the students on the three teams, which were among the 17 from eight high schools throughout Vermont competing in this day-long event at the Hulbert Outdoor Center in Fairlee.
Students were tested on their knowledge of Vermont's environments in the categories of wildlife, forestry, soils, and aquatics. In addition to the four main categories, each team had to do research about a current environmental issue and present their findings and recommendations to a panel of judges.
This year's topic was about the benefits and importance of sustainable Urban Community Forests. For this project, the teams worked on plans for planting trees on Henry and George streets.
The A-Team, which seeks to raise around $4,000 to cover the expenses that will be incurred for going the nationals, took first place in the categories of forestry, aquatics, and the oral presentation, and its members won second place in soils and wildlife, both of which were by a one-point margin.
B-Team placed third in the oral presentation, and the Alternates team came in second in the alternates division.
Trees in Rockingham
In February, members of each team attended the Bellows Falls Tree Committee meeting to get insight on the local community trees and clarify the goals of their project.
Students then went on to present their ideas for planting trees on these streets before the Rockingham Selectboard in March, a visit arranged by Rockingham Zoning Administrator Ellen Howard.
A final proposal for planting trees on George Street was submitted to the Rockingham Tree Committee by B-Team.