Brockton High School Competes at Massachusetts Envirothon

By Thomas Patti, Communications Coordinator

Brockton High School Envirothon team at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon.

On Thursday, May 25, nine Brockton High School students put their natural resources knowledge to the (hands-on, collaborative) test at the 2023 Massachusetts Envirothon. Congratulations to all the students for making their Brockton and Wildlands Trust communities proud! 

Twenty-five teams representing 18 high schools across the state converged on Blackstone River and Canal Heritage State Park in Uxbridge for this year’s competition. Each team was tested in five environmental areas: Forest, Wildlife, Water, Soil, and Current Issue. This year’s current issue, Climate Change in our Community, called on each team to present about the climate stressors facing their own neighborhoods, and potential ways to reduce and adapt to them. Across two teams, the Brockton students proposed interdisciplinary solutions to rival the multifaceted climate impacts in their city. One team highlighted the potential for green roofs to address flooding risk, food insecurity, and even human conflicts with Canada Geese. The other focused on improving the gateway city’s access to local, sustainably sourced food.  

Brockton High School students present about local climate impacts and solutions at the Envirothon.

Prior to the day’s events, two key figures in the Massachusetts natural resources sector addressed the students in attendance. “You are the next generation of leaders in our community,” said Brian Arrigo, commissioner of the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation. Rebecca Tepper, secretary of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, added, “The one thing you can do [about climate change] is work in this field.” 

Wildlands Trust has coached and sponsored the Brockton High School Envirothon team since 2015. Rachel Bruce, Wildlands’ Director of Special Projects, coaches the team alongside Brockton High School biology teacher Melissa Kelly and Manomet education manager Clare Cunningham.  

Wildlands was particularly well represented at this year’s competition, as our president, Karen Grey, also served as a judge! 

Congratulations again to the Brockton High School students on an impressive showing, including a fifth-place finish in Forestry! Additional kudos to the graduating seniors, who can now proudly say they measured water quality, estimated tree height, tested soil in a five-foot hole, and identified insect species—all on the day of their senior prom! 

To learn more about Wildlands Trust’s Brockton High School Envirothon initiative, visit wildlandstrust.org/envirothon. 

Click through the slideshow below to see more photos from the 2023 competition.

Brockton Youth Shine Bright Despite COVID-19 Challenges

By Outreach and Education Manager Rachel Calderara

The 2019/20 Envirothon team tours the Taunton River Desalination Plan (winter 2019).

Since 2015, Wildlands Trust has sponsored and coached the Brockton High School (BHS) Envirothon team. The team heads to the Massachusetts Envirothon each May, where they compete with high schools from across the state in forestry, wildlife, soils and water, and present a current issue research project on a topic that changes each year. Over the years, the team has earned some impressive accolades, including winning first prize for their current issue project on working with nature in watersheds in 2018. Our partner at BHS, science teacher Joyce Voorhis, received the Secretary’s Award for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education in both 2017 and 2019 for her work with the Envirothon team. 

Although 2020 brought unique challenges for Envirothon and the Brockton team, they managed to shine bright in the face of adversity. When the 2020 Massachusetts Envirothon was cancelled, the organization challenged teams to a video contest in place of the competition. Five students from the BHS team – Alyce Watt, Logan Coughlin, Erika Fernandes, Christina Giusti and Sofiyat Bello – stepped up to the challenge and created an 8-minute video about the water issues facing their city and their thoughts about COVID-19 and the environment both at home and around the world. Brockton High School was one of only five teams to submit a video for the challenge, earning them a $250 gift card to Forestry Suppliers. You can watch their video presentation here:

 

This summer, another unique opportunity arose, this time for alumni of the program, when they were invited to speak at a Watershed Action Alliance of Southeastern Massachusetts (WAA) virtual meeting. Wildlands Trust Outreach and Education Manager Rachel Calderara worked with WAA Coordinator and Outreach Manager Dorie Stolley to assemble a panel of three inspirational women to share their perspectives on the environment with WAA for their “Learn Along” series on environmental justice. Brockton High School Envirothon alumni Lily Green, MaryKate Clark and Nicole Mejia shared their unique experiences and spoke of the significant impacts that environmental education has had on their lives. You can watch WAA’s recording of the Zoom meeting here:

At Wildlands Trust, our commitment to environmental education in the city of Brockton remains strong despite the challenges of this pandemic, and we look forward to getting back to work with the students this fall, whether in person or online. 

Wildlands Trust Receives Grant For Youth Programs

Wildlands Trust is pleased to announce it has been selected to receive a $30,000 grant toward the upcoming Flagg Pond and Our Changing Forests studies in Brockton.

Students from Brockton High School participate in a Flagg Pond cleanup day.

Flagg Pond Study
Beginning this spring, Wildlands staff will work with Brockton High School students and faculty on analyzing the current state of Flagg Pond in Brockton. This multi-year, Citizen Science student-based project will look at the wetland buffer zone, vegetation, and assess the overall water quality of the pond. The project will kick off with Brockton’s Envirothon team and continue into the summer with Wildlands’ Green Team, with both groups performing water quality testing. Wildlands staff will also work with Brockton High School (BHS) faculty to establish the study as part of a curriculum within various classes in the future at BHS.

Envirothon team members collect data at Stone Farm Conservation Area.

Our Changing Forests Study
In partnership with the Harvard Forest Schoolyard program, Wildlands Trust is taking part in the state-wide Our Changing Forests Study. This past fall, Wildlands Trust staff set up forest study sites at Brockton Audubon Preserve and Stone Farm Conservation Area, where Brockton High School students visited and recorded data at both locations. Moving forward, students from local schools, with Wildlands staff, will continue to identify and measure trees, analyze the landscape, and submit gathered data from these two sites to Harvard Forest as a part of this multi-year, student-driven study.

Keep an eye out in the coming months for more updates and information regarding these two programs. If you have any questions about either study, please contact:

Flagg Pond Study: Conor Michaud cmichaud@wildlandstrust.org
Our Changing Forests Study: Rachel Calderara rcalderara@wildlandstrust.org 

Brockton High School Competes at Massachusetts Envirothon

By Outreach and Education Manager, Rachel Calderara

Wildlands Trust first started coaching an Envirothon team at Brockton High School in 2015 in partnership with science teacher Joyce Voorhis. Over the years, we’ve had the privilege of working with many bright and talented students at after school meetings as they study forestry, soils, water and wildlife, and research a current environmental issue impacting their community. Dozens of students attended club meetings throughout this school year and eight of the most dedicated students – all freshman and sophomores no less – went on to represent Brockton High and Wildlands Trust at the 2019 Massachusetts Envirothon Competition on Friday, May 17.

It was a rainy day at Sholan Farms in Leominster, but that didn’t stop swarms of poncho-wearing high school students from taking this outdoor competition by storm. The Brockton High School team started by impressing a panel of judges with their current issue presentation: “Abundant, Affordable, Healthy Food”, as it pertains to their city. They explored how Brockton might be able to help feed a growing population in a city where fresh food is not always accessible.

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Envirothon team members get “out in the field” at Langwater Farm in Easton.

Throughout the year, the team learned about this issue with the help of TerraCorps members Hayley Leonard and Alissa Young, Wildlands Education Manager Rachel Calderara, and teachers Joyce Voorhis and Melissa Kelly. They met with a variety of people in the city working towards increasing fresh food access for all, and volunteered at the Brockton High School community garden and at Langwater Farm in Easton. They turned their research into a well-rehearsed 15-minute presentation in the weeks leading up to the competition and now it was time to give it their all.

The team began the presentation with an overview of their city’s landscape and demographics, pointing out that in the most highly populated neighborhoods, the average income is lower than the national average, and there is very limited access to fresh food. They discussed the importance of the volunteer-run Community Garden Network in Brockton, which their school’s garden belongs to, as well as the significance of Brockton’s newly adopted Urban Agriculture Plan. They ended with recommendations for city officials and their big hopes and dreams for increasing food access and production in Brockton.

The judges were impressed with the team’s work and encouraged them to keep advocating for the cause. This summer, the students will be volunteering at their school’s community garden to help harvest and donate the produce grown there, with hopes of expanding garden educational programming next spring to the larger student body at Brockton High.

Our young team made us proud this year. Although it was most of their first times at Envirothon (we had one returner from last year’s team) they gave the competition their all. After the current issue presentation, the team split up to take hands-on field tests in soil, water, wildlife and forestry. They measured and identified trees, classified soil horizons and textures, tested and analyzed water quality, and identified wildlife tracks, pelts, and skulls. At the end of the day, Brockton took home 5th place in the water category!

The Massachusetts Envirothon is one of the most formative environmental programs available for high school students in our state and we at Wildlands Trust could not be more proud to be a part of it. We look forward to working with these students again next year as they continue to learn about our shared environment and begin their research on water resources for next year’s competition.

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The 2019 Brockton High School Envirothon team.