The CCHS Envirothon team competed well at state, beating quite a few teams from larger schools. In front, L-R: Robin Henrikson, Lucy Callender, Abby Prom, Linnea Henrikson, Amelia Roth, and Aurora Schelmeske. Back row, L-R: Elsa Lunde, Claire Sherburne, Andy Kern, Jack Haussner, Henry DeArruda-Weaver, Maya McHugh, and Chloe Blackburn.
On Monday, May 1 Cook County High School sent two Envirothon teams to Cloquet to demonstrate their environmental knowledge through tests on forestry, water, soils, wildlife, and current events.
“They also had to present their solution to an agricultural problem on a farm located in southern Minnesota in a 10-minute presentation to a panel of judges,” said Coach April Wahlstrom.
When the competition ended Cook County finished in first and second place, “and they won the spirit award for their great enthusiasm and kindness during the competition!” Wahlstrom said.
CCHS’s first-place team consisted of veterans who have made it to the state meet the past two years. Based on their winning performance, they will once again get to make the trip to state. This team includes Maya McHugh, Andy Kern, Linnea Henrikson, Abigale Prom, Lucy Callender, Claire Sherburne and Jack Haussner.
Wahlstrom said the younger team finished only one point behind the Vikings’ top team and their second-place finish also qualified for a trip to the state meet. On this team were Amelia Roth, Robin Henrikson, Henry DeArruda Weaver, Elsa Lunde, Aurora Schelmeske, and Chloe Blackburn.
Lucy Callender (L) and Linnea Henrikson display a map of a wildlife management area that is adjacent to private property. Just how to manage the two to get the best results for the environment was one of the problems the kids had to solve at the state Envirothon competition.
“These teams beat 25 other teams to earn a trip to the state meet,” said Wahlstrom.
Finishing in third place was Cromwell-Wright and in fourth place was Northeast Range.
As for her two teams and the mentors who have helped prepare them, Wahlstrom offered nothing but praise. “These students have been working hard on their solution(s) and learning various components about our environment.
Thank you to the professionals who came in to share their expertise with these students; your experiences helped our students to be successful. On May 15 we will compete at the state meet in Stewartville where we will contend against St. John’s Prep and Hopkins High School, just to name a few. Way to go Vikings!”
CCHS does well at the State Envirothon
On May 14 April Wahlstrom drove 13 Cook County High School students to Stewartville, Minnesota to compete in the state Envirothon meet. This is no ordinary contest. Minnesota’s state meet is North America’s largest high school environmental education competition.
“On the way down we did a little hiking and we worked on tree identification since the trees are pretty different in that part of the state,” said Wahlstrom. “The competition took place on May 15. Our two teams did very well. The team with Maya McHugh, Andy Kern, Abbey Prom, Linnea Henrikson, and Lucy Callender took fourth place out of 27 teams. They finished behind Hopkins High School, first place, Dilworth-Glyndon-Felton in second, and Crookston High School who was third.
“They beat Minnetonka High School and St. John’s Prep to name a few teams,” Wahlstorm said.
“Our younger team had a great first time showing at the state meet. Robin Henrikson, Aurora Schelmeske, Amelia Roth, Henry DeArruda-Weaver, and Elsa Lunde came in 14th place. We should be so proud of these students, they represented Cook County very well,” coach Wahlstrom said. “They worked hard on their solution to the agricultural problem and the judges were impressed. Our students of Cook County are pretty amazing kids!”
Leave a Reply