Envirothon is a competition in the conservation of natural resources, high school Extended Learning Program teacher and Envirothon coach Susan Fritzell said.

“That includes forestry, soils, aquatics and wildlife and how to manage those resources responsibly,” she said. “Every year, there’s also a current issue, a focus on a topic that the national headquarters sends us … this year, it was soils.”

The high school Envirothon team includes 13 total members. The group is split into smaller teams, and one team of five made it to the state competition in Granger last week.

Two spearheads of that team were senior students and Envirothon veterans Monica Carroll and Emily Sickles.

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO - The MHS Envirothon team makes an oral presentation at the state competition in Granger.

“You learn a lot of things that you otherwise would not have known or been aware about,” Monica said of being in the program. “I joined with Emily. She was kind of the person who told me about it because she was in Extended Learning Program and she said ‘There’s this club that goes out and does soil testing and goes out and plant trees.'”

Emily said she was interested in the group and wanted a friend to join her, so she asked Monica. Now, the two are among the team’s leaders.

Monica said last year’s Envirothon state final was “nerve-racking” but this year, aided with plenty of experience, the team felt calmer.

That calmness and hard work earned the Marshalltown team a win in the oral presentation category of the competition.

Fritzell said the hypothetical scenario the students were asked to solve concerned farming. In the scenario, a farmer was looking to improve soil health while remaining profitable.

Just getting to the state competition is a serious accomplishment. Fritzell said there are about 60 Envirothon teams statewide, of which 16 get to compete at the state level.

The students said Envirothon is about much more than just competing. In recent years, the group has done activities ranging from planting a small prairie near the high school greenhouse to learning about water quality in a trip to the mighty Mississippi River.

“It’s really fun, it’s a good experience. You learn a lot,” Emily said.

Both young women said they are planning to pursue higher education after high school. Monica said her Envirothon experience heavily influenced her choice of educational path.

“I’m going to UNI to do environmental science,” she said. “Before this, I didn’t really know anything I wanted to do in life, but I’ve found more of an enjoyment in trying to figure out problems based on the stuff that I’ve learned.”

Fritzell said any student at the high school can join Envirothon.

“I think kids need to get outside for one thing. It teaches environmental stewardship,” she said. “My requirement is that you’re dedicated and motivated.”