Tennessee Envirothon Team Has Best Showing Ever at National Competition

Tennessee 1st Place Envirothon Team from May 2007 - Pictured (l to r) Jonathan Mills; Andrew Russell; Daniel Sherrouse; Bill Mayo, 1st Vice President TN RC&D Ccouncil; Jordan Kelly; Bill Williams, President, TN RC&D Council: Jeremy Mills; Sara Steelman (team adviser); Alan Persinger (RC&D Coordinator)

Five 4-H members from Coffee County who won the Tennessee Envirothon competition in May went on to take first place in the soil judging portion of the North American competition and 17th place overall. It was the best showing ever for a Tennessee Envirothon team in the North American competition.

The Coffee County team, led by NRCS Conservation Technician Sara Steelman, includes Jeremy Mills, Daniel Sherrouse, Jordan Kelly, Jonathan Mills and Andrew Russell. They represented the Southern Middle Tennessee RC&D in the statewide contest. The teammates were among 265 students representing 44 states and nine Canadian provinces in the North American Envirothon competition held July 29-August 4 in Geneva, New York.

"The Envirothon competition is a hands-on environmental problem-solving competition for high school-aged students in the United States and Canada. It is very challenging and our young people rose to that challenge," said Steelman. She and Coffee County Agriculture Extension Agent Steve Harris accompanied the team to the North American contest, which is sponsored by Canon.

The Southern Middle TN RC&D consists of Bedford, Coffee, Franklin, Giles, Lincoln, Lawrence, Marshall, Maury and Moore Counties. The RC&D is actively pursuing community development projects such as the Quilt Trial, First Wheels and Envirothon.