What is the Envirothon Program?

National Envirothon

The Envirothon is a program for 9-12 grade students to learn more about our natural environment.  It tests the students' knowledge on subjects such as soils, aquatics, forestry, wildlife, range current environmental issues, and each year a different area of special national interest.   The Envirothon began in Pennsylvania in the apring of 1979.  Since then, it has spread to other states and countries.

Nebraska Envirothon

Nebraska held its first Envirothon in 1992.   Participation has grown steadily since then.  Each year, several regional Envirothons are held across the state.  The winning five-member team from each regional competition is then invited to represent their region at the Nebraska State Envirothon competition.  The State Champion then represents Nebraska at the National Envirothon Competition.

The Regional Competition in Nebraska is held at the end of February or beginning of March.  In order to go to the State Competition, a team must win the Regional Competition or have one of the top 8 scores throughout the Regional Competitions. The Regional competition takes a couple of hours to complete and includes less "hands on" activities. 

The State Competition is held in early May usually on a Saturday. The competition is held at one of four State Parks:  Halsey, Niobrara, Fort Robinson, and Platte River.  The competition takes most of the day and includes an oral presentation on an environmental topic chosen that particular year.  The students take tests on:  wildlife, forestry, policy, soils, range, water and the environmental topic for that year (includes the oral presentation).  The tests are taken as a team which allows all 5 students to work together to answer the questions.   The winner of the State Competition represents Nebraska in the National Competition.

The National Competition is held at a different site each year.  Once again, the students work as a team to complete the tests.  They are also given an oral presentation problem which they present to a panel of judges.   This is also inlcuded in their score.  The National Competition is usually 3-4 days long and allows students to visit various tourist attractions in the area.

Norris has participated in the program since 1993 winning the State Championship in 1994 and 2004 where they represented Nebraska in North Carolina in the National Competition and West Virginia.

The 2004 Team consisted of: Joel Keralis, Jessalyn Schrock, Hillary Schlake, Jamie Stolzer and Kyle Lococo.

The 2005 team consists of the same members and won their Regional competition and will be competing at the State Competition in Halsey on May 7th.