Event shapes minds

Last Friday morning, close to 100 students from across South Carolina converged on the Sandill Research and Education Center in Columbia for the 20th annual S.C. Envirothon Competition.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2884.jpgLast Friday morning, close to 100 students from across South Carolina converged on the Sandill Research and Education Center in Columbia for the 20th annual S.C. Envirothon Competition. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Ann Darr, second from the right, is a biology teacher at Mid-Carolina High School. She brought a team of five students to the event last Friday.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2887.jpgAnn Darr, second from the right, is a biology teacher at Mid-Carolina High School. She brought a team of five students to the event last Friday. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Members of the Mid-Carolina High School Envirothon team get ready to make their presentation to the judges at the Orals station.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2892.jpgMembers of the Mid-Carolina High School Envirothon team get ready to make their presentation to the judges at the Orals station. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Grant Mays, standing middle, makes a point during the Mid-Carolina High School oral presentation as teammates, from the left, Micah Amick, Maggie Taylor, Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard look on. They were presenting their arguments on behalf of the Law Firm of Eldridge-Taylor and Associates.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2903.jpgGrant Mays, standing middle, makes a point during the Mid-Carolina High School oral presentation as teammates, from the left, Micah Amick, Maggie Taylor, Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard look on. They were presenting their arguments on behalf of the Law Firm of Eldridge-Taylor and Associates. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

The group from Mid-Carolina High School stands in a pit used for the Soils portion of the contest. The pit, which is used each year, was dug out a few years ago once organizers located an area where the soil contained the elements needed for the test.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2905.jpgThe group from Mid-Carolina High School stands in a pit used for the Soils portion of the contest. The pit, which is used each year, was dug out a few years ago once organizers located an area where the soil contained the elements needed for the test. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Each of the 14 teams that competed had to take a turn at the Soils station, which included answering questions about soil in a pit and then using their knowledge to answer questions. Here, Gracie Eldridge, middle, works with Grant Mays, left, and Jeffery Bullard to identify the color of soil using what’s called a Munsell color chart.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2914.jpgEach of the 14 teams that competed had to take a turn at the Soils station, which included answering questions about soil in a pit and then using their knowledge to answer questions. Here, Gracie Eldridge, middle, works with Grant Mays, left, and Jeffery Bullard to identify the color of soil using what’s called a Munsell color chart. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Grant Mays, left, uses the sense of touch to determine the percentage of sand, silt and clay in the material in the tub as Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard look on.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2917.jpgGrant Mays, left, uses the sense of touch to determine the percentage of sand, silt and clay in the material in the tub as Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard look on. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Gracie Eldridge completes the testing portion at the Forestry station as Jeffery Bullard looks on.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2940.jpgGracie Eldridge completes the testing portion at the Forestry station as Jeffery Bullard looks on. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

Danielle Rowe, at back, second from the right, served as a guide at the Envirothon, chaperoning a group from station to station. All the students were required to wear the official Envirothon T-shirt and badges that identified them only by name and team number.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2942.jpgDanielle Rowe, at back, second from the right, served as a guide at the Envirothon, chaperoning a group from station to station. All the students were required to wear the official Envirothon T-shirt and badges that identified them only by name and team number. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

At the Current Topic station, part of the test included identifying photos of wildlife, foliage, insects, reptiles and more. From the left are Grant Mays, Maggie Taylor, Micah Amick, Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard.

https://www.newberryobserver.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/web1_mchsenvirothon2944.jpgAt the Current Topic station, part of the test included identifying photos of wildlife, foliage, insects, reptiles and more. From the left are Grant Mays, Maggie Taylor, Micah Amick, Gracie Eldridge and Jeffery Bullard. Patricia M. Edwards | The Newberry Observer

COLUMBIA – Quick quiz: Do you know the difference between inceptisols, spodosols and vertisols? Ever worked with a dichotomy key? Measured how many board feet you could get out of that pine tree in your front yard using nothing but your feet and a yardstick?

No?

How about this: Could you identify a frog that’s not an indigenous species to South Carolina? What about a snake that doesn’t naturally occur in the South Carolina wild?

Those are some intense questions and ones that most people don’t know the answers to – unless you count all the high school kids who converged on the Sandhill Research and Education Center on May 13 to take part in the 20th annual S.C. Envirothon Competition.

That day, students from 14 high schools – including Mid-Carolina High School in Prosperity – went head to head with one another through a rigorous six-station event that tested their knowledge of soils, forestry topics, aquatics and wildlife. They also had to present oral arguments to a panel of judges about a specific topic then take a test on the same topic.

The students from Mid-Carolina High School – Gracie Eldridge, Micah Amick, Jeffery Bullard, Maggie Taylor and Grant Mays – were there under the tutelage of Ann Darr, a biology teacher at Mid-Carolina High School.

While her students were making their way from station to station, Darr and other supporters had to hang out at the awards stage and wait.

As the day progressed and students moved from one station to another – all under the direction of an air horn that sounded when they were to begin and end – the groups, working as a team, amassed points based on their performance and on their knowledge of certain topics.

Those questions at the beginning of this story? Those were merely a sample of some of the information these kids had to have.

Josh Castleberry, who teaches at Central Carolina Technical College, was in charge of the Current Topic station, which was directly related to the Oral Presentation the groups had to give.

“The special topic comes from the national level and then all the states do the topic,” Castleberry said while grading tests during Mid-Carolina’s turn at his station.

Castleberry, who has taken part in several Envirothons, said he sees the events as an opportunity for the groups who make it all possible – S.C. Forestry Commission, Conservation Districts from all across the state, S.C. Department of Natural Resources, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and more – to expose students to what’s available out there.

“They see that there are actually people who do this for a living. That’s important,” he said. “It’s a higher level of thinking they don’t get in schools.”

Darr, who serves as the coach for the Mid-Carolina High School team, agrees.

“They get some education out of it. They learn a lot. Their eyes are actually opened more,” she said. “There are so many doors to environmental science they can choose from. One of them wants to become a lawyer, well environmental law is needed.”

Darr, who has been teaching since 2006, actually got her start in the field with the Department of Natural Resources.

“I used to work for the Department of Natural Resources so it helps. I decided to do something else and someone told me about the PACE program so I did that, started teaching in Laurens then transferred to Mid-Carolina and I just love it,” she said. “I don’t think I could do anything else. I love it. I love teaching high school.”

Darr, who attended her fifth Envirothon on May 13, said she also tries to incorporate lessons about the environment into her teaching at Mid-Carolina.

“We make them more aware of their surroundings. I definitely do it when I teach biology when we get on the environmental science and ecology,” she said. “I really open their eyes to a lot of things they didn’t know about, such as pollution. I show them some old commercials, like the crying Indian. I think that sends a powerful message.”