Seneca Valley High School won the Butler County Envirothon competition May 5 at the Jennings Environmental Center. Front, from left, Rebecca Finch, teacher; Joan Burns of the Conservation District; Dana Hadley, teacher; and Sheryl Kelly, Butler County recycling coordinator. Rear, students, Grant Evans, Elliott Bartels, Jake Hutto, Derek Hathazy and Kyle Dilliplaine.

A team of students from Seneca Valley High School won the annual Butler County Envirothon held May 5th at Jennings Environmental Center. Eighteen high school and four middle school teams participated.

The Envirothon is designed to give students an opportunity to acquire and demonstrate their knowledge of environmental resources and the interactive relationships between resources and human activities.

The goal of the Envirothon program is to help students become environmentally knowledgeable citizens who are willing to work toward achieving and maintaining an equilibrium between the quality of life and the quality of the environment.

The students were challenged in forestry, aquatics, wildlife, soils and biodiversity in a changing world.

Tests were conducted by personnel from the Bureau of Forestry, the state Game Commission, Fish and Boat Commission, Butler County Recycling Department and Butler County Conservation District.

The Seneca Valley High School team is led by teachers Rebecca Finch and Dana Hadley.

The team will represent Butler County in the state Envirothon competition at Bald Eagle State Park in Howard, Centre County, May 19.

The winner of the state contest will represent Pennsylvania at the 22nd annual Canon Envirothon Aug. 2 to 8 at the University of North Carolina in Ashville, N.C.

Ron Fodor is district manager of the Butler County Conservation District.