“Global Village People” from Elwood High School were the winners of the Newfoundland and Labrador Envirothon held at Max Simms Camp in central NL in early May.

NL Envirothon is a fast-paced, academic competition involving teams of high school students tested on their knowledge of Newfoundland and Labrador’s natural resources, teamwork and public speaking skills.  Each team is made up of five students and a teacher sponsor. Students are tested in five areas: Soils, Aquatics, Forestry, Wildlife, and a current environmental issue which for 2009 was Biodiversity in a Changing World. Teams are then presented with information about a problem based on the current issue, and must prepare an oral presentation based on their proposed solution.

This year’s Envirothon was held in Bishop’s Falls. Event organizer, Bonny Moroni, saw the move to a more central locat

ion as an opportunity to encourage province-wide involvement. “Last year’s Envirothon was held at Killdevil Camp in Gros Morne, and teams from Labrador and the western and central regions of the island came out to compete,” said Moroni. “We moved the event to central Newfoundland to increase involvement from schools and sponsors across the province.” 

Ten teams participated this year, from schools in Corner Brook, Pasadena, Deer Lake, Port Saunders, Main River, Labrador City, Botwood, Grand-Falls Windsor and Conne River. The teams were vying for several awards: top scores in each of the five field tests, top score in the oral presentation, and the Neal Simon Team Spirit Award. Neal Simon was a judge at the NL Envirothon in 2006, but died later that year in a boating accident. In his memory, NL Envirothon established the award to honor the team that best exemplifies Neal’s love of learning and the natural e

nvironment of Newfoundland and Labrador.

Silex, a team from Exploit’s Valley High School in Grand Falls-Windsor, were awarded the Neal Simon Team Spirit Award as well as receiving the highest in the oral presentations. Main River Academy’s Team, Zwak Pak, scored highest in the Wildlife field test, and Team Braya from Roncalli High School won first place in the Aquatics field test. In addition to winning the Envirothon 2009 title, the  Global Village People from Elwood Regional High also came first in Soils, Forestry and Biodiversity field testing.

The Elwood team will go on to compete at the Canon International Envirothon in North Carolina this summer under the guidance of coaches Oral Roberts and Fred Pearson.

Bonny Moroni of the MFNL, event organizer of NL Envirothon, presents competition winners "Global Village People" of Elwood High School with their award.