HAMPDEN – The rain held off as the State Envirothon finals were held May 24 at the McDougal Orchards in Springvale.

The Maine Association of Conservation Districts awarded plaques to the top three scoring high school Envirothon teams:

. First place, Cony High School Team A, Augusta.

. Second place, Hampden Academy.

. Third place, Bonny Eagle High School.

Fifteen teams representing 13 high schools from around the state competed at the event.

Envirothon, Maine’s largest high school environmental education program, is an international program representing more than 500,000 high school students in the United States and Canada.

First place Cony High School will represent Maine at the international Canon Envirothon competition at the University of Winnipeg, Manitoba, in July.

The international Canon Envirothon, organized by local conservation districts and other conservation agencies, is sponsored by Canon USA, in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, USDA Forest Service, National Association of Conservation Districts, Mead Westvaco Corporation, American Electric Power Inc. and Alcoa Foundation.

The major objective of Envirothon is to provide opportunities for high school students to acquire and increase their outdoor skills and scientific knowledge about Maine’s natural resources so that they can make informed, educated decisions about the environment.

It provides students with reference materials, workshops and hands-on, outdoor real life experiences in five areas: forestry, wildlife, soils, aquatics and a current issue. This year’s issue was Water Stewardship in a Changing Climate.

Other high schools competing in the State Envirothon finals were: Bucksport High School, Central High School of Corinth, Old Town High School, Dirigo, Easton, Edward Little, Hodgdon, Jay, Nokomis and The New School.

Other schools eligible for the State Envirothon but unable to attend were Ashland, Greeley, Washington Academy and Westbrook.