PCSS Envirothon state champions headed for international competition

    GUILFORD — Five students from Piscataquis Community Secondary School, led by biology teacher Heather Doherty, have captured top honors at the Maine Envirothon Championships on May 23 at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.

Contributed photo

    MAINE CHAMPIONS — Members of the Piscataquis Community Secondary School Envirothon team are, from left, Jeremy Bell, Rebecca Grant, coach Heather Doherty, Logan Sargent, Emily Northup, and Ben Maines. The team won the state championship on May 23 in Brunswick, and will be representing Maine at the North American Canon Envirothon in Montana in August.

    Ten teams that placed in the top three from four different regions participated in the event. The beginning Envirothon pool included 61 teams from throughout the state.  The PCSS Envirothon team members are Jeremy Bell, Emily Northup, Ben Maines, Rebecca Grant and Logan Sargent. Grant and Sargent are four- year veterans. The team is coached by PCSS biology teacher Heather Doherty.
    The Maine Envirothon is a “hands on” natural resources competition program sponsored by the Maine Association of Conservation Districts, receiving support from all of the districts in the state. Regional and state competitions test student knowledge on wildlife, aquatics, soils, forestry and a current issue. This year the current issue was “Sustainable Forestland Management: Achieving Balance with Forest Products, Environmental Concerns, Traditional Recreation, Tourism and Increased Developmental Pressure.”
    Envirothon is Maine’s largest high school environmental education program, and is part of an international program representing over 500,000 high school students throughout the U.S. and Canada. Every participating student gets the opportunity to interact with state soil scientists, biologists, foresters and other natural resource professionals.
    Maine Envirothon participants are eligible for several scholarships. Grant was awarded the MACD Envirothon scholarship to University of Maine in the amount of $2,000.
    On the way to the title, PCSS received the highest score on the soils component in the history of the event in Maine. In addition to placing first in soils the team also placed first in forestry and aquatics. Mt. Ararat High School of Topsham received second place honors with Spruce Mountain High School of Jay/Livermore Falls team finishing third.
    The first-place PCSS team will represent Maine at the North American Canon Envirothon at Montana State University in Bozeman from Aug. 4–10. The team is active in fundraising for the trip. Businesses, organizations or individuals wishing to help may send proceeds to “Envirothon” Piscataquis Community Secondary School 9 Campus Drive Guilford, Maine 04443.