Five East Knox FFA members recently competed in the 2022 Area 3 Envirothon held at Caldwell Lake in Noble County near Belle Valley on April 27 where they placed eighth out of the 16-county area. Team members were seniors Alexandria Magers and Andrew Poff; juniors Hailey Frazee and Dustin Springer; and freshman Dylan Springer.

Area 3 consists of the 16 counties of Belmont, Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Harrison, Holmes, Jefferson, Knox, Licking, Monroe, Morgan, Muskingum, Noble, Perry, Tuscarawas and Washington. Five Area Envirothons are conducted around Ohio in April and May, with the top four teams from each of these area competitions progressing to the Ohio Envirothon on June 5-7 at Lake Erie College.

The Envirothon is designed to stimulate, reinforce and enhance interest in the environment and natural resources among high school students. The Envirothon tests students' knowledge of soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatic ecology and current environmental issues. This year’s issue is From Waste to Reuse. In addition, the Envirothon encourages cooperative decision making and team building. While each student on an Envirothon team is challenged to contribute his or her personal best, the score that counts at the end of the Envirothon is the team score.

Although they did not qualify this year, East Knox FFA has qualified and competed 18 times in the 34-year history of the State Envirothon. They won the inaugural competition in 1989, advancing to the national event in Massachusetts.