Recently, Pennsylvania Envirothon, a statewide competition that educates high school students in natural resources and environmental sciences and emphasizes the importance of environmental sensitivity, and Digital-first Sponsor PSECU, launched a free, educational app. Dubbed “Pennsylvania Envirothon,” the app is now available for download for both Android and Apple devices.

“Envirothon is a fun, academic event. It challenges high school students to think critically about the natural world and their roles in it. Envirothon combines in-class curriculum and outdoor training, helping students to learn more about our natural resources, flora and fauna, and current environmental issues,” said Pennsylvania Envirothon Executive Director Lorelle Steach. “We believe our new app will play an even greater role in team preparation, especially with many students experiencing distance learning.”

The Pennsylvania Envirothon app was made possible with financial support from Pennsylvania’s anytime, anywhere digital credit union, PSECU.

“As an organization that has long embraced technology and its benefits, PSECU has been able to offer our members top-of-the-line digital tools and resources to securely and conveniently manage their finances anytime, anywhere,” explained PSECU President and CEO George Rudolph. “We’re sure that the new Pennsylvania Envirothon app will provide students – and the greater community of users – with many of the advantages of digitalization, too, all the while educating them as future environmental leaders. We couldn’t be prouder to serve as the project’s Digital-first Sponsor.”

The Pennsylvania Envirothon app encourages users to learn about topics including soils and land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, wildlife, and environmental issues, and browse a feed of natural resource information – all while experiencing Pennsylvania’s outdoors.  Features of the app include:

• Links to Envirothon Station Training references
• Guides to identifying trees, fish, wildlife, and more
• Audio and photo files for identifying birds and their songs as well as frog and toad calls
• Quizzing options to test lessons learned
• Information about Digital-first Sponsor PSECU

Austin Jadlowiec, an Envirothon alum and junior at the University of Pittsburgh pursuing a double major in math and computer engineering, developed and designed the new Pennsylvania Envirothon app. “The Envirothon is a wonderful opportunity, no matter what your field of study is,” he shared about his experience with the competition. “If something interests you, chase it! You never know what opportunities it may lead to in the future.”

“We hope users will find this portable guide useful as they train for Envirothon competitions or while they just enjoy all nature has to offer,” Steach added.

About Pennsylvania Envirothon
The mission of the Pennsylvania Envirothon is to provide students with the knowledge and tools necessary to address the natural resource challenges facing today’s world as well as the challenges of tomorrow. It educates high school students in natural resource and environmental sciences and emphasizes the importance of environmental sensitivity while stressing a need to achieve a social, ecologic, and economic balance in life. Envirothon’s learning objectives emphasize awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and application. For additional information, visit www.envirothonpa.org.

About PSECU
Opened in 1934, PSECU was founded by 22 ordinary people who pooled $90 and made an extraordinary commitment to each other: To create a financial institution where collective resources benefit all members. Today, PSECU continues that legacy as Pennsylvania’s largest credit union, managing $7 billion in assets and offering its more than 475,000 members convenient anytime, anywhere digital banking options. PSECU was named a 2020 Best-In-State Credit Union by Forbes Magazine and a Best Credit Union of 2020 by GOBankingRates. For more information about PSECU, visit psecu.com. View its Year In Review to learn how PSECU contributes to the greater good.

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Pennsylvania Envirothon is proud to host one of the state’s largest natural resource education competitions. Envirothon provides thousands of students with the knowledge and tools necessary to address the natural resource challenges facing today’s world. Out of concern for all Envirothon participants (students, advisors, and volunteers), we sadly will not hold an “in-person” 2021 Pennsylvania Envirothon State Competition.

Rather than an in-person event, we are excited to announce Pennsylvania Envirothon will hold a virtual State Competition that will include station testing and an oral presentation component. The Envirothon is a “team” competition, and the 2021 event will be held as such. Teams will compete for scholarships and prizes, just as they would at a traditional event.

We see this as an opportunity to continue the mission of the Envirothon as well as to promote environmental literacy. This virtual competition allows Envirothon students to utilize technology as they, as a team, work through the station resources and compete online. It may not be the outdoor experience that we relish, but we are committed to making the 2021 virtual Envirothon a worthwhile experience for all participants.

We are pleased to announce the 2020 “Pennsylvania Envirothon Week” winners. Even with Envirothon events being canceled this year, participants were not deterred from testing their Envirothon skills. The contest may have taken place virtually and not outdoors, but the natural drive in these students was evident.

Prizes for the top scores were awarded for each day. The top 10 scorers each received a $20 gift card. If there were more than 10 top scorers for any given day, winners were randomly selected from the pool of top scorers. From the week’s 179 participants who completed all five challenges, three overall winners took away Pennsylvania Envirothon apparel. The overall winners’ scores out of a possible total of 500 points were:

First Place – Maddie Tiemann, Neshaminy High School, Bucks County, a score of 480;
Second Place – Nicholas DeFigio, Brownsville Area High School, Fayette County, a score of 475:
Third Place – Ethan Olesko, Brownsville Area High School, Fayette County, a score of 470.

More than 300 Envirothon participants representing 110 schools in 47 counties competed in Pennsylvania’s first-ever, weeklong, online Envirothon Challenge. During each day of the Challenge, individuals completed a 20-question quiz that focused on one of the five-station topics – Soils and Land Use, Current Issues, Wildlife, Aquatic Ecology, and Forestry.

“The virtual Envirothon was a nice tool to add to our new distant teaching, learning, and practice. We got many of the students excited as they waited for that exact time to go to their email and start the Challenge, but I was not expecting the level of involvement for the Challenge. I was happy to hear of their feedback after completing their Challenge,” expressed Tom Hojnowski, Envirothon coach at Canton High School, Bradford County.

The partners who made this event possible were Pennsylvania’s Departments of Environmental Protection, Conservation and Natural Resources, Agriculture, and Education; U.S.D.A. Natural Resources Conservation Service; Fish & Boat Commission; and Game Commission. Event sponsors included: Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts, State Conservation Commission, Shell, PSECU, EQT Foundation, UGI Utilities, Weis, Chief Oil & Gas, PPL, and Pennsylvania Trappers Association.

“On behalf of the Pennsylvania Envirothon Board of Directors, I would like to thank all the students who took the Pennsylvania Envirothon Online Challenge and their coaches who supported them,” said Bill Kahler, Chair. “It was very gratifying for us to see the great number of students participating in this very “unusual” 2020 Envirothon competition. For the seniors, we hope the Pennsylvania Envirothon will have a lasting impact on your future goals. For the returning students we hope you stay excited and involved, and we hope to see you in 2021. Congratulations to all who participated.”

We are reaching out to all of our Pennsylvania Envirothon Alumni! We would love to know where you are now and how the Pennsylvania Envirothon positively affected your life and career path!

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