BLOOMINGDALE, Ohio — On a sunny day at Hellbender Preserve in Bloomingdale, Ohio, students traveled back and forth through a path in the woods, measuring trees and sampling soil.
While this may not be a typical classroom, getting outside and exploring is just one benefit of competing in Ohio’s State Envirothon contest, which ran from June 1-3.
“I wouldn’t know half the things I know now if I didn’t do (Envirothon),” said Kylie O’Connor, who is going into her senior year at Lynchburg-Clay High School.
“It pushes you to learn, to study and look up things on your own.”
The annual state competition, held at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio, tests students ages 14 to 19 years old on aquatics, wildlife, soil and forestry knowledge, with a specific focus this year on how “non-point source pollution” affects these areas of study.
The competition gets kids outside in a world where they are frequently using technology, even at school, said Katerina Sharp, education and outreach coordinator for Pickaway Soil and Water Conservation District.
“(This) is not education that you can necessarily do in a classroom. This is an experience that they can only get from being out here, from being outside,” Sharp said.
How it begins
Before the state competition, students compete in regional competitions — five area competitions in the state are held throughout April — and the top four teams in each area advance.
Students then spend the next several months prepping with their five-person teams for the state competition, which includes creating a presentation that focuses on the theme “non-point source pollution” and completing four tests during a field day. The winning team advances to the National Conservation Foundation Envirothon that will be held in Mississippi from July 19-25.
This year, the field day took place at Hellbender Preserve, a decade-long project by the Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District that opened in 2025. Jefferson SWCD spent four years carving paths throughout the property, including a mile-long trail that is part of the Great American Rail Trail.
The nature preserve also features Cross Creek Stream, a tunnel and a stone bridge commissioned by Abraham Lincoln that trains used to travel
Cross Creek Stream is home to the largest population of endangered eastern hellbender salamanders, the country’s largest aquatic salamander that’s native to Ohio, according to Aaron Dodds, project manager at Jefferson Soil and Water Conservation District.
Since opening, the nature preserve has been a popular recreational activity and event space for Jefferson SWCD, but on June 2, it was a hands-on classroom for students from across Ohio.
Ohio Envirothon
Each team of students trekked through the woods, stopping at four different stations along a gravel path. At the aquatic, forestry, soil and wildlife stations, teams completed a test specific to that topic that later counted as part of their final score for the competition
These stations also integrated this year’s theme with questions specific to the region where the event was held.
At the wildlife station, students had to identify animals in a booklet while determining how steep topography in eastern Ohio increases the impacts of non-point source pollution on wildlife.
Down by the water, students stood on rocks beside the Cross Creek Stream, identifying different qualities of a stream that were marked by a wooden stick, as well as identifying microvertebrates and equipment at the aquatics station.
Meanwhile, other students were back in the woods at the forestry station, where they identified trees by measuring them and looking through a 10-fracture prism, surveying the trees that were 360 degrees around them.
Alyx Flott, forester at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, covering Tuscarawas, Harrison and Jefferson counties, created the state competition forestry test this year.
“I really wanted to have the questions give a good representation of what foresters are doing every day in our jobs,” Flott said.
At the soil station, students got down in the dirt, measuring and handling it to determine the soil type, answering questions like how erodible it is and whether it has high or poor drainage. They also assessed whether this soil would be ideal to plant a specific tree species or to put a logging road in, depending on soil composition.
For months, students have been learning about non-point pollution in their own communities in addition to studying the particular soils, trees, wildlife and aquatic aspects in Jefferson County, said Janelle Mead, CEO of the Ohio Federation of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.
“It gives them a lot of opportunity to talk about what’s going on in their local communities,” said Mead. “The other really cool thing is, if you’re from southern Ohio, you’re kind of forced to learn about eastern Ohio and how very different the environment is, even within our state.”
For students like Gage Thompson, who just graduated from Lynchburg-Clay High School in Highland County, that’s one of the reasons why he enjoys the annual competition.
“(The Ohio Envirothon) gets you in touch with nature, you get to see parts of the world that most kids don’t ever get to see,” he said.
A career pathway
The Ohio Envirothon does more than just teach students about the environment; it also offers students a glimpse into future careers.
Some students already have plans to study science-related subjects in college, including Thompson, who will be studying pre-veterinary medicine and animal sciences at Ohio State University in the fall.
“If you’re in the science, no matter what it is, (the Ohio Envirothon) helps you in all other branches of (that field), even though (we’re studying) environmental science, I’m gonna go pursue animal sciences in college,” said Thompson.
Many former Envirothon attendees have gone to work for ODNR, SWCD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, and even come back to help run the event, including Flott and Sharp.
Flott says coming back as a forester, mentoring students is a “full circle” moment for her.
Sharp, who is now on the Ohio Envirothon committee, recalls one year as a student when it rained nonstop, a year the committee talks about frequently, she said.
“(We) were at Tar Hollow, and it rained so much beforehand, it rained during the event and the soil pit was flooded. They had a picnic table in the soil pit, and that’s how (we) students could judge their soil,” Sharp said, with a laugh.
Like many students and staff alike, Mead says the Envirothon is her favorite event each year because it gives her hope for future generations.
“These kids are super smart, they’re interested in agriculture and the environment, and they come here to be tested in the summer,” said Mead. “It gives you hope that you have some really great kids that are going to take care of the world in the next generation.”
2026 Ohio Envirothon winners
1. Gage Thompson, Kylie O’Connor, Cloe Williamson, Autumn Blankenship and Owen Faust from Lynchburg-Clay High School
2. Will Beisner, Gaby Brown, Kris Eilerman, Grant Heiser and Matthew McCans from Miami Valley Career Technology Center.
3. Micah Anderson, Abby Biggers, Camden Clear, Graham Smith and Jordan Spindler from Watkins Memorial High School.
(Liz Partsch can be reached at epartsch@farmanddairy.com or 330-337-3419.)
