Beaufort County middle school and high school students competed in the Areas and 6 Coastal Envirothon held on March 20, 2018 at Weyerhaeuser’s Cool Springs Environmental Education Center in Craven County.

Eleven teams represented the district in the area competition. The top fourteen teams (seven high school and seven middle school) from each area advance to the State Envirothon, which will be held April 27 and 28 at Cedarock Park in Alamance County.

Representing Beaufort County in the state competition from Area 5 will be the Hot Heifers from Northside High School and The Venustus from Southside High School. The Name Unknown and Jalapeno Hotties teams from Northeast Elementary and the Hollerin’ Hornets from Pungo Christian Academy will represent Beaufort County in the middle school competition.

Other teams who competed in the Coastal Envirothon from Beaufort County were the Gnarly Narwhals and the Penny Pintails from Northside High School, the Leap Frogs, Killer Koalas and Screaming Weasels from Pungo Christian Academy and the Space Babes from Northeast Elementary.

Beaufort County’s Envirothon advisors are Daphne Cullom (Northside High), Melanie Simmons (Northeast Elementary), Crystal Crosby (Southside High) and Crystal Swindell (Pungo Christian Academy).

Envirothon is the most widely recognized hands-on environmental education program in the nation. Middle and high school students immerse themselves in a year- long learning process that combines curriculum with hands-on field experiences facilitated by resource professionals such as soil scientists, foresters and wildlife specialists.

This intense training culminates in a competition where teams are tested in five subject areas: soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues. Scores determine winning placements.

Locally, the Envirothon competition is coordinated by soil and water conservation districts and sponsored by the North Carolina Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.

2018 Coastal Envirothon sponsors include “Humpback Whale” – Smithfield Foods, “Black Bear” Weyerhaeuser, “Southern Flying Squirrels” – American Skin LLC, Georgia-Pacific Chemicals and Nucor, and numerous local Farm Bureau offices.