Post by Charity on May 25, 2005 12:54:03 GMT -5
By Rob Scott
The Daily Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTONVILLE — A group of homeschooled teenagers from Snyder County took fourth place at the 22nd annual Pennsylvania State Envirothon on Tuesday.
The five students, who called their team Future Hope Homelearners, scored 408 out of a possible 500 points during competition at PPL’s Montour Preserve.
Approximately 320 high school students, representing more than 50 counties, participated in the competition.
"I was totally caught off-guard," said 17-year-old Laura Reitenbach, a Future Hope team member who was attending her first Envirothon.
Teammate Seth Hoffman, 17, said he was equally surprised when he heard their name called.
"After they got past sixth place, I was like, ‘Sorry guys,’" he said.
But it turned out the Homelearners did better than they expected.
The Homelearners were awarded first place in the forestry component of the competition with a high score of 94.
In the Envirothon, teams of five students are judged by environmental professionals on answers to questions about the environment. The competition was broken down into five components, such as aquatics, soils and wildlife.
A lot of hard work led up to the fourth place finish, the team members said.
"It’s really on you to study," said Megan Angstadt, 18. "It’s whatever you put into it."
Team members met every other week over the past few months in preparation for the competition.
This was Megan’s third year in the Envirothon.
The competition is limited to high school students, and since she is now a senior, Megan can no longer participate in it, at least not on the same level as the other students.
"I’m hoping to come back as an advisor next year," she said, telling her fellow teammates, "We’ll get first place."
Megan’s mother, Barb, put together this year’s team of Megan, Laura, Seth, David Stamm, 17, and Daniel Carr, 17.
The Envirothon started in 1984 as a way to give high school students an opportunity to study the environment and understand the ecological and community factors that affect it.
To advance to the state competition, teams must win county competitions.
At the county level, the Envirothon involves 15,000 students from across the state.
The winning team will represent Pennsylvania at the national Envirothon competition in Springfield, Mo., in July.
www.dailyitem.com/archive/2005/0525/local/stories/11local.htm
The Daily Item
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
WASHINGTONVILLE — A group of homeschooled teenagers from Snyder County took fourth place at the 22nd annual Pennsylvania State Envirothon on Tuesday.
The five students, who called their team Future Hope Homelearners, scored 408 out of a possible 500 points during competition at PPL’s Montour Preserve.
Approximately 320 high school students, representing more than 50 counties, participated in the competition.
"I was totally caught off-guard," said 17-year-old Laura Reitenbach, a Future Hope team member who was attending her first Envirothon.
Teammate Seth Hoffman, 17, said he was equally surprised when he heard their name called.
"After they got past sixth place, I was like, ‘Sorry guys,’" he said.
But it turned out the Homelearners did better than they expected.
The Homelearners were awarded first place in the forestry component of the competition with a high score of 94.
In the Envirothon, teams of five students are judged by environmental professionals on answers to questions about the environment. The competition was broken down into five components, such as aquatics, soils and wildlife.
A lot of hard work led up to the fourth place finish, the team members said.
"It’s really on you to study," said Megan Angstadt, 18. "It’s whatever you put into it."
Team members met every other week over the past few months in preparation for the competition.
This was Megan’s third year in the Envirothon.
The competition is limited to high school students, and since she is now a senior, Megan can no longer participate in it, at least not on the same level as the other students.
"I’m hoping to come back as an advisor next year," she said, telling her fellow teammates, "We’ll get first place."
Megan’s mother, Barb, put together this year’s team of Megan, Laura, Seth, David Stamm, 17, and Daniel Carr, 17.
The Envirothon started in 1984 as a way to give high school students an opportunity to study the environment and understand the ecological and community factors that affect it.
To advance to the state competition, teams must win county competitions.
At the county level, the Envirothon involves 15,000 students from across the state.
The winning team will represent Pennsylvania at the national Envirothon competition in Springfield, Mo., in July.
www.dailyitem.com/archive/2005/0525/local/stories/11local.htm