Students from the Palmerton Area School District seem to know a lot about the environment.

Teams from the district captured first place awards in the high school and elementary divisions of the annual Carbon County Envirothon, held recently at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.

In the high school event, Palmerton teams had first and second place finishes. Elementary students from Palmerton gained first and third place awards. Palmerton Middle School students had a third-place finish.

The Envirothon had each school form six-member teams which heard presentations on various environmental topics, then were tested on them.

Each team had a self-selected nickname.

The team Hagfish V2, consisting of captain Gretchen Schaible, Alec McCarty, Kellen Trotter, Cody Walkowia and Josh Merkel accumulated 386 points, with a team called The Bean Stonks of Palmerton netting 331 points.

There were five stations set up at the Envirothon, with experts in respective disciplines at each of the stations. The stations were forestry, wildlife, soil, aquatics and current events. A presentation was given by experts and then the students received a specified time for taking a test on the topics.

The tests not only included questions and answers, but some warranted visiting some of the areas of the Environmental Center to find answers. This included questions about wildlife, plants and even aquatics.

Winning students qualified for the state competition to be held May 24 in Mifflinburg.

Neither the first or second place high school team from Palmerton can attend the Mifflinburg event because of scheduling conflicts.

Frank Klock, naturalist at the Environmental Center, said a lower placing team might go to the states, instead. He said next year’s local Envirothon likely will be held earlier in the year, probably April.

This year’s list of winners are:

High School

1. Hagfish V, Palmerton High School, G. Schaible captain - 386 points.

2. The Bean Stonks, Palmerton High School, R. Fallong, captain - 331 points.

3. Hootin’ Owls, Weatherly High School, M. Berger, captain - 311 points.

4. Delong’s Decontaminating Disciples, Panther Valley High School, M. Yuricheck, captain - 303 points.

Middle School

1. Awesome Armadillos, Lehighton Middle School, C. Kline, captain - 403 points.

2. Carbon Copies, Panther Valley Junior High, B. Barlett, captain - 393 points.

3. Rowdy Raccoons, Palmerton Junior High, W. Spalding, captain - 386 points.

4. Golden Bearded Dragon, Panther Valley Junior High, A. Roy captain - 381 points.

Elementary

1. The Nature Five, Towamensing Elementary, C. Wismer, captain - 444 points.

2. Slippery Salamanders, Weatherly Elementary, S. Delman, captain - 441 points.

3. Dreamteam, S.S. Palmer Elementary, M. Jahelka, captain - 437 points.

4. The Mood Doubloons, Panther Valley Elementary, L. Uher, captain - 429 points.

Ella Baumgardt, a Palmerton High School student, said, “I thought it was a really fun experience. We all learned a bunch of things.”

“It’s a fantastic event,” Klock said. “We had fantastic weather. We have a lot of kids willing to learn about the outdoors and willing to learn outdoors.”

Dennis DeMara, former Mauch Chunk Lake Park manager and now a member of the Wildlife Conservancy, said a Nature and Commerce Committee was recently formed by the Carbon County Chamber and Economic Development. He said the Chamber is looking for a student who will serve on the committee.

More information is available on the Chamber’s website.