Summerside students win 2017 P.E.I. Envirothon

Students at Three Oaks Senior High School in Summerside, P.E.I., are this year's winners of the Provincial Forest Envirothon competition and will now represent the Island at the 2017 National Conservation Foundation Envirothon in Maryland in July.

• P.E.I. Environmental Awards handed out to students, schools

Using teamwork, problem solving, and communication skills teams from seven Island schools were tasked with developing real-world strategies to help farmers reduce soil erosion and conserve water.

"Congratulations to the winning team of students from Three Oaks who took on extra work to learn more about how we can all protect our natural world," said P.E.I. Environment Minister Robert Mitchell in a written release Monday.

"Your new-found knowledge will serve you well in your role as future stewards of our green province."

Dozens of students competing

The envirothon is an annual science-based competition for North American high school students that Island students have entered since 1999. The P.E.I. competition took place in November.

The national competition will be held in Emmitsburg, Md., July 23 to 29 with the theme of Agriculture Soil and Water Conservation Stewardship.

In all, 49 high school students volunteered their time to study forestry, aquatic ecosystems, soil and land use and wildlife habitats to participate in this year's provincial competition.

Three Oaks team members included students Karen Farag, Sam Farag, Curtis Lough, Robin Burton and Allison Meister, along with their teachers/advisors Heather Pringle and Chris Higginbotham.

Students from Kinkora Regional High School, Bluefield High School, Charlottetown Rural High School, cole Franois-Buote, Morell Regional High School, and Montague Regional High School also participated in the provincial competition.

• MORE P.E.I. NEWS IMill River deal a head scratcher, say Tories
• MORE P.E.I. NEWS IP.E.I.'s snowboard team of 1: Meet Mark Morrison