On Tuesday, April 27, the Envirothon team at Dover Area High School competed against other Envirothon teams in surrounding York County schools, bringing home a fourth place finish. 

Envirothon is an extracurricular activity where students study environmental science topics and are later tested on them. There are usually four to six students on a team. The different categories you can compete in are aquatics, wildlife, soil, forestry and water management. 

This year’s competition was virtual due to Covid. Other years, the competition is held at John Rudy Park with timed stations all around. This year the students did not leave the building. The 2021 competition included timed online tests. It was less hands-on without the full experience of samples and specimens. The award ceremony was also held via Zoom this year. 

Freshman Savannah Williar claims she “felt pretty good leading up to the competition.” Williar knew Envirothon is something she enjoyed. Although she was upset the competition had to be virtual this year, she enjoyed the competition with her team. The team prepared a lot for the soil category as it was new this year. 

Envirothon advisor Leslie Forbes has been the advisor for seven years. Her role is to attend meetings with other York County advisors which provide her information about the local, state, and national competition. She also runs the Envirothon study sessions. Forbes felt as if every year the team is highly motivated to win. Under the tutelage of Forbes, the team worked well together and utilized each individual’s strengths in the specific categories to help the team as a whole. Forbes hopes these team members return for next year and can improve on this year’s finish.