Some students spend the summer at the beach. Others obtain summer jobs. Five Farmingdale High School students traveled mid-summer to the Canon Envirothon at Wesleyan College in Buckhannon, West Virginia, to study and be examined. While there, the students' environmental knowledge and decision-making skills were put to the test nearly every day as part of a week-long competition that culminated regional and state contests involving over 500,000 students.

The Farmingdale team members included: Carolyn Badalucco, 17, soils specialist; Shawn Billerman, 17, team captain and wildlife specialist; Michelle Dubuke, 17, forestry specialist; Christine Ellman, 16, aquatics specialist; and Yuri Hanada, 15, current issue.

Lori Sheinwald and Patti Ziegler, both life science teachers, have advised the team at Farmingdale HS for the last three years that the school has participated.

Once in West Virginia, the Farmingdale students, who represented New York State at this annual North American event, met with the winning teams from 44 other states and seven Canadian provinces. Though they spent a good part of the school year studying soils, wildlife, aquatics, forestry and urban resources, they still needed to position themselves for the day-to-day testing that ended in an oral presentation, which offered a solution to an environmental problem. Though teams were assigned advisors or team buddies, these individuals were on hand to guide them through the activities. None of these individuals were permitted to interpret any data or in any way assist team members with the preparation of their presentations. Students were on their own.

"We spent a lot of time studying our respective individual specialties during the year," said Shawn Billerman, Farmingdale's team captain, "but most important we learned to work as a team."

"Teamwork really paid off at the nationals," said Christine Ellman. "Some of us had to gather specimens, while others had to calculate results. It was a very intense experience. The whole thing made me appreciate New York and the environment at the same time."

The opening ceremony brought together over 600 people, including the 250 contestants, teachers, parents, judges, advisors, and Envirothon officials. Students listened to Jessica Lynch, the West Virginian native, who was a former Army private first class and the featured speaker. Though she gained recognition as a rescued prisoner of war in Iraq, she spoke about her desire to become a teacher. She told the students never to give up and to try to give back. Her talk resonated around the theme that protection of the environment was as basic as protection of freedom and just as important.

Other guest speakers included Stephanie Timmermeyer, of W.Va.'s Department of Environmental Protection, who cautioned teams that climate change would be an issue that "your generation must face head on." Tim Reich from the National Association of Conservation Districts, which is a sponsor of the Canon Envirothon, and Joe Gumm of W.Va.'s Association of Conservation Districts, also spoke.

Participants toured key West Virginia wildlife and environmental sites. They visited the Seneca Rocks of Monongahela National Forest. These unusual rock formations tower 1,000 feet above a fertile green valley. Then they went underground and toured Seneca Cavern. Toward the end of the week, the group went to Canaan Valley, which became a study in energy dynamics. There was the raw power of Blackwater Falls, an electric exchange between the environment and power generation at Mt. Storm, and a breezy bout with renewable power at a wind farm.

Envirothon teams also planted trees to help restore a wetland area at the Mt. Storm Power Plant. The area is one of the largest manmade wetlands in the state. A sign will be placed at the site to commemorate the tree planting as part of the 2004 Canon Envirothon.

The current topic handed to Envirothon teams this year was a scenario that involved a NASCAR complex and related infrastructure. Because of the popularity of NASCAR and large crowds these events typically attract, the impact on nearby communities and the environment were deemed a major challenge. The teams had to make recommendations for tracks, grandstands, parking areas, connecting roads, bathrooms and wastewater systems, and other amenities like restaurants and hotels. After a nine-hour collaboration, teams gave a 20-minute presentation before a panel of judges. A 10-minute question and answer period followed.

Participants competed for a share of $30,000 in scholarships at this year's Canon Envirothon. The teams from Florida, Virginia, New Jersey, Kentucky and North Carolina placed first to fifth respectively as overall winners. Farmingdale placed 25 out of the 51 teams. It ranked 7th in wildlife, 10th in forestry, 15th in aquatics, 37th in soils, and 35th in the current topic.

This is the third time that the Farmingdale team has won the Long Island Regional Envirothon earning the highest scores of the Nassau and Suffolk entries. However, this was the L.I. team's first win at the state level and the first time ever that a downstate team beat out the upstate ones. Some of the participating teams at the nationals from smaller populated states have represented their states for several years, since there are no regional contests.

"With each competition, we have learned something different," said Billerman.

"It was our previous experience in the oral presentation that gave us the edge this year at the states," said Michelle Dubuke. "We hope we can repeat and head to nationals again next year with more experience in the process."