Hampden competes at Canon Envirothon

HAMPDEN – During the week of July 26-31, the Hampden Academy Envirothon Team competed at the Canon Envirothon in Buckhannon, W.V.

Forty-four teams from the United States and eight from Canada participated in the competition. Canon Envirothon is the largest high school environmental competition in North America.

The schedule for the team was quite aggressive, which left everyone exhausted, including advisers. The opening ceremony was held on Monday.

The team heard from several people from West Virginia, including Jessica Lynch, the former Army private and prisoner of war.

Shaun Briggs and Megan Worcester had the honor of being the flag bearers during the parade of flags. Tuesday was training day, where the teams learned about the soils, wildlife and trees in West Virginia. On Wednesday, the teams took written exams.

Thursday was the team’s rest day before preparing for oral presentations. The team and their advisers went on a tour that included Mt. Storm, a coal-fired power plant with an 85-degree man-made lake used for steam generators.

Next, team members went to see a wind farm operated by Florida Power and Light. After lunch, the tour stopped at Black Water Falls State Park, where they heard presentations on geology, forestry and park history.

The last stop of the day was Canaan Valley Resort, where they had free time to participate in several outdoor activities including hiking, riding the ski lift, bonfires and making refreshments.

On Friday, team members were sequestered for 12 hours to work on oral presentations. The teams were challenged to develop a grant proposal for a state-of-the-art NASCAR racing complex from the environmental standpoint.

They needed to take into consideration infrastructure, including tracks, grandstands, parking areas, connecting roads, bathrooms and wastewater systems and other amenities including restaurants and hotels. They also needed to consider how all of the above elements had an impact on the local environment and community and make recommendations to protect both.

The presentations were made on Saturday in closed sessions around the campus. The five teams that earned the highest scores for the oral presentation were then challenged to make the presentation before the other teams.

Saturday ended with the awards banquet and awards ceremony. The first place team was from Florida, followed by Virginia in second place and New Jersey in third.

The Maine team did very well, placing 18th out of the 52 teams.

Team members were Shaun Briggs, Chris Hawkins, Greg Jones, Jim McCabe, Paul Wilson, Megan Worcester and team adviser Betsy Bass. Chris Brewer from the Penobscot County Soil and Water Conservation District also attended as a representative of the Maine Association of Conservation Districts.