Four teams of Beaufort County students are gearing up for the N.C. Envirothon, after competing against teams from the eastern region of the state in the Coastal Envirothon.

On March 17 at Weyerhauser’s Cool Springs Environmental Education Center in Craven County, nine Beaufort County high school and middle school teams, sponsored by the Beaufort County Soil and Water Conservation District, were among more than 275 students who competed in the Area 5 and Area 6 Coastal Envirothon. Area 5 consists of Northampton, Hertford, Gates, Chowan, Perquimans, Pasquotank, Camden, Currituck, Bertie, Martin, Washington, Tyrrell, Hyde, Dare, Beaufort and Pitt counties and Area 6 consists of Greene, Wayne, Lenoir, Craven, Pamlico, Carteret, Jones, Lenoir, Duplin, Onslow, Duplin, Pender, New Hannover and Brunswick.

At the competition, 34 high school teams and 18 middle school teams competed. The top 14 teams — seven high school and seven middle school — from each area advance to the state competition, which is slated for April 24-25 at Cedarock Park in Alamance County. There are eight areas in the state, with only seven Envirothons held, as Areas 5 and 6 partner to host the Coastal Envirothon, according to Becky McRoy, education coordinator for BCSWCD.

At the local competition, the Nerd Herd team of Washington High School placed first overall for Areas 5 and 6 and received an all-expense paid trip to the state competition, McRoy said. Second place overall were the Feisty Foxes of Washington High School, who won a cash prize and a trophy. For middle school, the Freaks of Nature of Northeast Elementary School won second overall, which also put them in first place for Area 5, winning a cash, state registration fees paid and a trophy. Also from Northeast Elementary School was the Squad, who placed in the top seven for middle school, awarding them a berth in the state competition, McRoy said.

“It’s quite an accomplishment,” McRoy said of the county teams placement. “They worked hard and studied hard and paid attention and did well on their test to get those rankings. We’re very happy that they will be representing us at the state Envirothon, and we’re sponsoring them there, as well. We have a good record at the state level, and we’re hoping they will do well. ”

Other teams that competed in the local competition included: the Rabid Raccoons of NHS; the Nerd Herd of NES; and the Enviromaniacs and Primary Consumers, high school teams from Pungo Christian Academy, as well as Erosion Explosion, a middle school team from PCA, according to McRoy.

McRoy said the Envirothon is the most widely recognized hands-on environmental education program in the nation. Middle school and high school students immerse themselves in a year-long learning process that combines curriculum with hands-on field experience facilitated by resource professionals like soil scientists, foresters and wildlife specialists. The training culminates in local competitions where teams are tested in five subject areas: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife and current environmental issues, with scores determining winning placements, McRoy said.

“It’s very involved,” McRoy said. “Most of these teams we have, it’s not a class at school, it’s an extracurricular activity.”

The local competition, like all local Envirothon competitions, are sponsored by the NC Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts, as well as local districts and Farm Bureaus across the state, according to McRoy. In addition to sponsorship, the districts and area resource professionals serve as operators and facilitators of the actual competition, manning competition stations and other administrative positions, McRoy said.

McRoy said though no middle school teams can go to the national level of competition, the two high school teams have before them the chance to do so, a feat that has never been accomplished by a Beaufort County team. One team from each state — the winner of each state’s Envirothon — will earn an invitation to the national competition.

For more information, including standings and photos from local competition, visit www.nccoastalenvirothon.org. For more information about the state competition, visit www.ncenvirothon.org.