Decorah HS Envirothon teams do well

Two Envirothon teams from Decorah High School will advance to the State Envirothon competition.

The teams finished first and third out of 57 teams from across Iowa after the regional contests, earning the right to compete at the state contest to be held on April 24th at Springbrook State Park near Guthrie Center.  The winning teams at the state competition will compete at the national competition on July 23-29, 2017, at Mount St. Mary's University in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

The Envirothon is a team competition for high school students testing their knowledge in five categories: Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, and Current Environmental Issues.

Establishing a new school and state record for number of participants from one school, 35 students from Decorah High School took part in the regional Envirothon contest held on the Kirkwood College campus in Iowa City. The Painted Turtles team, consisting of members Shania Kelly, Josephine Berlage, Sylvia Betteridge, Brenna Betts, and Anna Spencer, finished first at the regional competition, earning the top overall score.  The MHEMO team, consisting of Owen Burgdorf-Hibbs, Matthew Chen, Evie Holyoake, Meg Sessions, and Helen Weis, finished third at the regional competition and will also represent Decorah at the state meet.

Five other Decorah teams finished in 6th, 10th, 17th, 18th, and 31st place overall.  Although the Ospreys came in 6th place and the Shagbarks placed 10th, they will not be able to compete at the state meet because of the "Decorah Rule" which states that only two teams from one school can qualify for the state competition. The "Decorah Rule" was added to the original rules after Decorah sent four teams to the state contest in 2007.