Ninnekah High School Wins 2018 Oklahoma Envirothon

ARDMORE, Okla. — The Ninnekah High School team placed first at the Oklahoma Envirothon competition held on March 29 at the Noble Research Institute. This is Ninnekah's second consecutive win and the fourth year for Noble's youth education and outreach program to host the Oklahoma Envirothon competition.

Noble Research Institute will sponsor the Ninnekah team as they represent Oklahoma at the North American competition on July 22-28, at Idaho State University in Pocatello, Idaho. The winning team members are: Kaylee Crutchfield, Dakota Dinsmore, Madison Mink, Caden Smith and Bruce Trammell. The team adviser is Connie Taylor.

"This team was dedicated and worked all school year to accomplish this goal," Taylor said. "The students are involved in several other extracurricular activities, which made Envirothon practice challenging. Their discipline and work ethic were determining factors this year, and I'm proud of them."

During the competition, students rotated among four stations that focused on aquatic ecology, forestry, soil and land use, and wildlife. Each station included a written test based on the discussions. Each team also gave a presentation on western rangeland management, this year's special topic.

"We look forward to competing in Idaho at the North American competition again," Taylor said. "It will be a great opportunity to learn more about the competition, gain a deeper understanding of the four study areas, and to have some fun meeting students from other states. This will be a great learning experience for my students."

The Oklahoma Envirothon is a team-based environmental science competition for high school students and is part of an established North American Envirothon program. "This competition is an exciting, fun way for students to learn about the environment and the issues facing current and future generations," said Frank Hardin, Ph.D., youth educational outreach manager. "The Oklahoma Envirothon demonstrates the role we have in important environmental issues through in-class curriculum and hands-on field experiences."

For more information about the Oklahoma Envirothon competition, please visit www.oklaenvirothon.org. For questions, please contact Frank Hardin, Ph.D., at cfhardin@noble.org, or Will Moseley at wamoseley@noble.org.

Photo

The Ninnekah High School team placed first at the 2018 Oklahoma Envirothon competition last week. Team members are (from left): Caden Smith, Dakota Dinsmore, Bruce Trammell, Kaylee Crutchfield and Madison Mink.