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Press Release

Local teens take top honors at the 31st Rhode Island Envirothon

Wheeler School Team 1 repeats as overall RI Envirothon champs!
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NRCS State Resources Conservationist, Cassius Spears, Jr. (left), awarded 2025 RI Envirothon Champs, Wheeler School, Team 1, which will be representing Rhode Island at the International Envirothon competition.

It’s a three-peat! Wheeler School Team 1, was crowned 2025 Champions at the 31st annual Rhode Island Envirothon competition held Friday, May 23rd, at Kent County YMCA in Warwick. This is the third year in a row that Wheeler School has won top honors.

For the past school year, Rhode Island high school students have been studying aquatics, forestry, soils and land use, wildlife, and researching a current environmental issue across the Ocean State. At the Friday outdoor competition, 55 middle and high school students tested their knowledge of the area’s soils, forests, water, and wildlife. School teams rotated through four stations where they answered written questions and engaged in hands-on activities such as soil analysis, wildlife identification, tree identification, and water quality testing.

At the fifth station, focused on this year’s environmental issue, each team delivered a 12-15-minute presentation on “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change” to a panel of subject matter judges. The teams researched the environmental issue in their own community in preparation for their presentation. Each panel of judges included concerned citizens and environmental professionals from government agencies, non-profit organizations, academia and private industry.

Schools, 4-H clubs, scout troops and other recognized youth groups may enter one to three teams of five participants. This year’s teams represented East Providence High School, Narragansett High School, Providence Country Day Middle School, The Greene School in West Greenwich, and The Wheeler School in Providence. 2025 RI Envirothon's top scoring teams were:

Overall High School Champions

  1. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  2. The Greene School, Team 1
  3. The Wheeler School, Team 2

Overall Middle School Champs

  1. Providence Country Day School

Individual Station Winners (high school)

2025 Rhode Island Envirothon competitors take water samples at the Aquatics station.

Aquatics

  1. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  2. The Wheeler School, Team 2
  3. Narragansett High School, Team 1

Wildlife

  1. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  2. The Greene School, Team 1
  3. The Wheeler School, Team 2

Forestry

  1. The Greene School, Team 1
  2. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  3. Narragansett High School, Team 1

Orals

  1. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  2. The Greene School, Team 1
  3. Narragansett High School, Team 1

Soils

  1. The Wheeler School, Team 1
  2. Narragansett High School, Team 1
  3. The Wheeler School, Team 2

Written Test

  1. The Greene School, Team 3
  2. The Wheeler School, Team 2
  3. The Greene School, Team 1

“The Envirothon is more than just a competition. Many teams have taken what they’ve learned about the environment and put it to work in their community. The program prepares our next generation for environmental stewardship,” said RI Envirothon Coordinator Paul Dolan. “Students use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to develop solutions to real-world environmental problems.”

The Wheeler School Team 1 will represent Rhode Island in the International Envirothon, to be held July 20-26, 2025, in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The 2025 Rhode Island Envirothon was made possible through the contributions of partnering agencies and organizations, including financial support from: the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, AMICA, Environmental Business Council of New England, The Hammond Family, Society of Soil Scientists of Southern New England, Rhode Island Society of Environmental professionals, Senator Susan Sosnowski’s Office, Northern Rhode Island Conservation District, RI Tree Farm, RIFCO, Navigant Credit Union, Westerly Community Bank, and many other professional and environmental organizations.

Federal and state environmental agencies, conservation districts, non-profit organizations, higher educational institutions, and businesses provided expertise and helped organize the event. Dozens of volunteers were also on hand managing event logistics: setup, Team check-in, test scoring, lunch service and clean up.

For more information about the Rhode Island Envirothon, visit www.rienvirothon.org or contact Envirothon Coordinator, Paul Dolan, at 401-500-0399 or president@rienvirothon.org.

PHOTOS: https://www.flickr.com/photos/rienvirothon/albums/

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