Monday, May 21, 2012
BOARDMAN
A team of Boardman High School students has earned a spot in a state competition for environmental problem solving.
Boardman High School students Jimmy Tancabel, Kylie Lancashire, Mo Akbar, Kaye Moyer and Luke Carabbia will compete at the state Envirothon contest June 11-12 at Deer Creek State Park in Mount Sterling.
“As far as we know, this is the first Boardman team to make it to state,” said team adviser Heather Moran, who teaches advanced biology and environmental science at the high school.
Boardman took two teams, A and B, to the regional competition in April. Boardman A placed 3rd overall, and Boardman B placed 19th out of 64 teams. The top four teams move on to the state competition.
United FFA from Columbiana County placed first in the Northeast Ohio region, Chardon Team Red was second, Boardman Team A was third and Crestview A from Columbiana County was fourth.
Tancabel, Boardman’s only senior Envirothon team member, said the team will have to complete tasks at “ecostations” relating to soil, forestry, wildlife and aquatics.
“We complete the stations as a team, but we each have a specialized area,” he said.
Moran said each station, which usually lasts between 40 and 50 minutes, presents challenges.
“With the soils, they have to actually jump into a soil pit and solve problems there. In forestry, they identify trees and wildlife; they identify animals based on skulls and pelts,” she said.
Lancashire said forestry was the most difficult station at regionals.
“We only had the bark to identify the tree,” she said.
Moran said the biggest change at the two-day state competition from regionals will be a five-minute oral presentation about an as-yet unspecified topic.
The catch?
The team can’t use computers or cellphones during the three hours it has to prepare for the presentation.
They know the general topic is nonpoint source pollution and low-impact development, and they are allowed to bring hard-copy references and research materials.
To practice for that part of the contest, members of the high school speech team worked with the Envirothon team on public speaking, and last week, Kathi Vrable-Bryan, district administrator for the Mahoning Count Soil and Water Conservation District, gave a presentation to the team and other high school science classes.
“I was teaching them about water quality and the science of investigating community environmental issues. ... All models are geared to student standards to enhance the curriculum,” Vrable-Bryan said.
The winning Ohio Envirothon team will receive a plaque, $300, travel expenses up to $3,000 and registration to the national competition, the Canon Envirothon, at Susquehanna University in Pennsylvania.