SUMMIT STATION - Samantha Puzzi, a junior at Blue Mountain Area High School, gazed up at a tree on the border of the Schuylkill County Fairgrounds on Tuesday morning, trying to identify it.
"I think it's a maple. I don't know. We were looking at the leaves budding and they kind of look like maple leaves," said Puzzi, one of the more than 250 students from area schools who participated in the 35th annual Schuylkill County Envirothon.
"Most people learn to identify trees by their leaves. But it's early, early spring, and all you have are those buds. It's a red maple," Frank P. Snyder, a state service forester with an office in Tuscarora, said.
Once again, Blue Mountain High School students have come in on top at the annual Envirothon, continuing a consecutive winning streak that started in 1987, said Christopher Brommer, a Blue Mountain High School math teacher who is one of the team's advisors.
"Blue Mountain High School Team Number 1 will represent Schuylkill County at the Pennsylvania Envirothon," Patrick M. "Porcupine Pat" McKinney, Schuylkill Conservation District's environmental education coordinator, said.
The 2014 Pennsylvania State Envirothon will be held at Susquehanna University and PPL Montour Preserve on May 20 and 21, according to the event website at www.envirothonpa.org.
"We've won states in the past. I believe the last time Blue Mountain won the state competition was in 1999," Brommer said.
The members of Blue Mountain High School Team Number 1 included seniors Brendin Freeman, Kevin Hoffman and Joe Lassandro; junior Stephen DeLeon; and freshman Sidney Allar.
They were also given a plaque.
What's the secret to Blue Mountain's success?
"A lot of hard work," Brommer said.
Schools that participated included Blue Mountain, Saint Clair, Assumption BVM, Pine Grove, Mahanoy Area, Nativity BVM, North Schuylkill, St. Ambrose School, Tamaqua, Tri-Valley, Williams Valley and Pottsville, according to McKinney.
McKinney said the Envirothon tests student teams about their knowledge of the environment and is designed to increase their awareness of interrelationships that exist in the world.
"Three tiers of competition are held for different grade levels. 'Snoops' are teams in elementary grades. 'Investigators' are middle school students. And 'Scientists' are high school students. The winner of the 'Scientists' category will represent Schuylkill County at the state competition to be held later in May," McKinney said.
Josh Baker and Sebastian Kopinetz, seniors at Mahanoy Area, said this was the first year they participated, and they found some of the tests to be rather challenging, in particular quizzes on soil.
"It was a humbling experience," Brandon Donelson, a senior at Mahanoy Area, said.
Darryl Andreas, a Mahanoy Area junior, said this is the seventh year he participated.
"It's fun to come out to. And nature is a part of my life. I hunt and I fish and I've always found nature interesting," Andreas said.
"It's beautiful out here," Robert Wozniak, a senior at Mahanoy Area, said.
"It's nice to come out here and just enjoy the weather and nature," Kopinetz said.
The Schuylkill County Envirothon is coordinated by the Schuylkill Conservation District and this year the Schuylkill County Municipal Authority was the primary sponsor.
At the awards ceremony at the Indoor Midway, Executive Director Patrick M. Caulfield and Amy S. Batdorf, the authority's assistant director, presented a $2,500 check to Elizabeth A. Hinkel, district manager for the conservation district.
"Our event was also supported by Gordon Foods for paper products and some snacks and also WJP Engineers for scoreboard and scoring assistance," McKinney said.
Local representatives of the state Game Commission, state Fish and Boat Commission, the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources - Bureau of Forestry, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Chesapeake Bay Program and the state Department of Environmental Protection provided technical assistance, McKinney said.
Schuylkill County Commissioner Gary Hess read a proclamation from the commissioners in recognition of National Drinking Water Week, which began Sunday and will end Saturday.
Peggy Hentz, owner and wildlife rehabilitator at Red Creek Wildlife Center, Schuylkill Haven, also entertained the students with a presentation, in which she introduced them to a turkey vulture named "Hannibal."