On May 8, the Parkway North Envirothon team placed second in the Missouri state competition. 

“We went into both regionals and state with the same attitude of having fun and doing our best, so we’re still really happy with placing 2nd overall,” Adish Pawar, a competitor on the North team said.

North won first overall in the Wildlife Resource Concern, but will not be advancing to the international competition due to them placing second in state behind Central High School from Springfield. 

“We’ve gotten second twice in a row and lost to different schools each time only by a couple points which is frustrating,” sponsor Brian Kramer said.

The Envirothon team consists of five team members ranging from grade 9-12. Each participant specializes in one of five categories where they study and prepare for the annual competition that is held in May of each year. During the one day competition, the teams challenge their knowledge on each topic through written tests and an oral presentation.

“Envirothon is an environmental competition with many different components, including aquatics, soils, forestry, wildlife, and the yearly ‘current topic’ that has an oral presentation. This year, the current topic was ‘adapting to a changing climate,’” Pawar said.

Throughout the school year, the team takes the time to study and prepare for the competition. There are a series of online practice quizzes and study material that the teams can use to prepare. 

“I was in charge of organizing the oral presentation and studying for the current topic,” Pawar said. 

This year’s team consisted of senior Adish Pawar, junior Gail Nuestro, senior AJ Adhikari, sophomore Matt Andrews, and senior Ananta Sharma.  

“I really wanted to join Envirothon because I’m passionate about the environment and this felt like a fun way to test my knowledge. I plan on majoring in civil/environmental engineering, so this felt like a good opportunity to learn how we interact with the environment and how the environment interacts with itself,” Adhikari said. 

Despite not placing in the international competition, the team learned to persevere and work hard. The team also made close friendships with one another. 

“My favorite part was definitely just hanging out and hearing everyone talk passionately. It’s nice to hear people talk about things you are also passionate about,” Adhikari said.“Hopefully, this means we will make first place next year. Third time’s the charm.”