Two Switzerland County High School teams competed at the Southeast Regional Envirothon competition that was held on Thursday, April 5th at Hanover College.
Both Switzerland County teams placed in the top three teams of the 11 teams at the regional competition; and both will advance to the State Envirothon competition, which will be held this Tuesday.
Students competed in teams of five in such areas as: forestry, aquatics, soils, wildlife, and a special topic for 2007: alternative energy.
The Switzerland County team that won the competition was made up of captain Jim Abbott, Ashley Bright, Cliff Meyer, Aaron Moore and Daniel Welch.
Tying with Madison for second place, and then earning third place due to a tiebreaker, was the Switzerland County team that consisted of captain Heather Fussnecker, Stephanie Adams, Sara Craig, Brittany Heffelmire and Chantal Snyder. Aaron Woeste served as the team’s alternate.
The teams are now busy solving an alternative energy design problem for the state competition.
The two Switzerland County teams will now compete with the top 18 teams from around the state on Tuesday, taking tests and demonstrating skills in forestry, aquatics, soils, wildlife and alternative energy; as well as giving team presentations on the energy design problem.
Students are to design an energy efficient structure at a cost of $500,000 using alternative sources of energy. Design plans, comparative costs of conventional and alternative energy structures, funding, and solving local energy/environmental problems are all part of the presentation.
The Switzerland County Soil and Water Conservation District Board has supported the team by providing registration costs for the Southeastern Indiana Regional Envirothon and for the Indiana State Envirothon competitions. The teams are sponsored and will be accompanied by teacher Bonnie Fancher.