Envirothon

Welcome to our Sacred Heart Envirothon Team page.

According to the Missouri Envirothon page, “the Envirothon is a problem-solving, natural resource education program for high school students.  In the field, teams of five students are challenged to hone critical thinking skills and work as a team.  They answer written questions and conduct hands-on investigations of environmental issues in five categories – aquatics, soils/land use, forestry, wildlife, and current environmental issues.  In addition to a written test, teams also present an oral presentation solving a specific natural resource issue.

The Envirothon stimulates, reinforces, and enhances students’ interest in the environment and our state’s natural resources.  Envirothon was created as an “Environmental Olympic” event in Pennsylvania and has expanded to many other states.”

Sacred Heart has had much success with our Envirothon teams.  In 2016, we had our first State placement, finishing 3rd.  Keep in mind that we compete against all classes of schools.  Therefore, we are up against teams with upwards of 2,000 students in their district.  We have advanced to State each of the last 5 or 6 years, finishing in the top 10 in each of the other trips.

Our teams typically compete in a regional competition, usually held in mid-April.  The top 3 finishers there will advance to State.  Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions, our competitions have been greatly impacted.  In the 2020-21 school year, we did not have a regional competition.  All teams automatically made it to the State competition, which was held virtually.  This will also be the case for this year’s competition in May.   The Missouri Envirothon Program consists of seven regions across the state with each region holding a competition either in the fall or early spring.  The top three teams from each of these regional competitions advanced to the state competition, held in May, in Jefferson City.  The regions have approximately 15-20 schools in each region, meaning that a state invitation puts you in the top 21 teams out of over 200.

“The Envirothon competition is not divided by class so our students are competing against schools of all sizes in our region,” explains Barb Hagebusch, SHS science teacher, and Envirothon sponsor. “I’m thrilled to have our kids represent Sacred Heart at State and excited to see what they can do at the next level. It’s great to see their hard work and dedication recognized with this accomplishment.”