And, We’re Back at Brightwater!

It had been three long years since we were able to host our Northwest Regional Envirothon competition in person. In 2020, the sudden onset of COVID-19 forced us to cancel the competition, and in 2021, we skipped the regional competition and went straight to a virtual state competition. Finally, on March 24 of this year, we gathered in person once again at Brightwater Educational Center, taking safety precautions and wearing masks.

Five teams of high school students from King and Snohomish counties competed on four standard topics—aquatics ecology, forestry, soils and land use, and wildlife—plus a current topic for oral presentations. This year’s current topic was Waste to Resources.

Envirothon is about more than students simply answering questions correctly. It challenges teens to think things through and come up with creative solutions. Our test proctors commented this year (as they often do) on how wonderful it is to hear the students working out the answers to the questions together. We have no doubt that all of our participants walked away with new ideas in their heads.

We are so grateful for our conservation district colleagues and board supervisors from King, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom who lead this annual environmental education effort. We’d also like to thank our partners in the King County Wastewater Treatment Division, Snohomish County Surface Water Management, City of Everett, Puget Sound Air Agency, and Brightwater for their test writing, proctoring, and career guidance. We are also grateful to the Washington State Conservation Commission for financially supporting this work. And, last but not least, we want to thank the wonderful advisors and students—all first time participants—for jumping in to join us for this educational, fun, and interactive competition!