Wantagh HS Students Take Top Honors at Long Island Envirothon

Five-member teams from  and Sachem North High School captured the 2012 Long Island Envirothon competition on April 25. 

The Long Island Envirothon, which was sponsored by Lake Success-based Canon U.S.A, Inc., is considered one of North America’s largest environmental education competitions with participating students learning about their natural surroundings as well as conservation and sustainable development. The daylong competition, which was held at the Usdan Center for Creative and Performing Arts in Wheatley Heights, involved students answering questions on various issues that affect the environment and preparing a solution to present in front of judges.

Members of the winning team from Wantagh High School included Jillian Rodesk, Isabella Swyst, Danielle Tralongo, Ariane Jong, Teresa Clark and Jake Kaplan. The team's advisor was Valarie Sebastiano. 

The first-place winners each received $500 and a digital camera and the high school's science department was the recipient of a computer printer. Additionally, the team won an all-expense-paid trip to Geneva, N.Y., where they will represent Nassau County and compete at the state level at Hobart and William Smith Colleges on May 23 and 24.

Both the Nassau and Suffolk County Soil & Water Conservation Districts coordinate the Long Island Regional Envirothon in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. This year’s focus was entitled “Nonpoint Source Pollution/Low-Impact Development.”