Envirothon teammates Ella Plourde at left and Kaila Godbey study cedar branches Sunday evening, April 24, at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay. Five teams from the school will be competing at the Regional Envirothon competition May 19 in Bethel. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

JAY — Spruce Mountain High School has five teams that will compete at the regional Envirothon competition May 19 in Bethel.

“We’re lucky, we have a lot of kids participating,” advisor Rob Taylor said Sunday evening, April 24. “The number of schools, teams participating statewide is down this year.”

Working with Taylor is biology teacher Ken Baker. Technology instructor Kym Bryant helps teams with printing and formatting to create quality products for the current-issue presentations. “She has been a great resource for the program,” Taylor said.

One reason for the greater participation at Spruce may be that kids haven’t had opportunities to participate in other activities because of the pandemic, Taylor noted. The teams have been meeting every Sunday night from 6-8 p.m. but several students were absent due to vacation, other commitments, he added.

Teammates Kasey Burns at left and Morgan Craig touch a deciduous branch held by Envirothon advisor Rob Taylor Sunday evening, April 24, at Spruce Mountain High School in Jay. Students test their knowledge of aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and a current-issue topic in the competition open to high school students from the United States, Canada and China. Pam Harnden/Livermore Falls Advertiser

Envirothon is an environmental and natural-resource conservation competition for high school students in the United States, Canada, and China. Problem-solving, team-building and leadership skills are developed while learning about aquatics, forestry, soils, wildlife and the current issue topic – which changes each year.

The current issue this year is Waste to Resources, which looks at all kinds of waste, how to recycle or repurpose those in meaningful ways, Taylor said.

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It is one of the most extensive topics he has seen as the Envirothon advisor. Included are wastewater, food waste, agricultural waste, solid waste, household hazardous waste, he said. “There’s a really long list of waste we produce,” he added.

The state hosting the national competition chooses the current issue each year and Maine’s current issue was adapted from that, Baker said.

Each Spruce team has chosen a different Maine lake or pond to use with its current-issue presentation. The Maine presentation is five minutes compared to a 20-minute presentation at nationals, Taylor said.

Last year Envirothon was held virtually and the year before it was canceled because of COVID-19. Last year there was no current-issue component in Maine.

“Only a few of the seniors have actually done a current-issue

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