Lucas Arendt, Connor Evelsizer, Gabriel Hiner, Aidan Nalean-Carlson, and Anders Lovstuen–all members of the DHS class of 2024– earned a trip to Geneva, New York, in late July to represent Iowa in Envirothon international competition. This was the second year in a row this same team of five young men scored the highest in Iowa and traveled to the NCF-Envirothon Annual Competition. Winning teams from 50 states, provinces, and countries gathered in Geneva, vying for top honors.

The Envirothon is a five-member team competition for high school students testing their knowledge of natural resources. Whether in the field or classroom, students are challenged to use their knowledge and critical thinking skills to conduct hands-on investigations, solve real-life scenarios, and answer written questions covering five categories: Aquatics, Forestry, Soils, Wildlife, and a current environmental issue. This year, students focused on the current issue topic of “Renewable Energy for a Sustainable Future.”

Decorah finished in a very respectful 13th place, improving from a 19th place finish last year in New Brunswick. The experience proved invaluable as far as team bonding, meeting students from around the world, and making memories. During the week in New York, all students also traveled to wondrous Niagara Falls for viewing and getting wet on the “Maid of the Mist” and the “Wind Cave.”

Allysen Lovstuen served the team as an invaluable assistant advisor. Without her help and guidance, keeping everyone on a tight schedule would have been much more difficult. As an added bonus, Lovstuen kept the families back in Decorah supplied with daily updates and photos. She also proved to be a first-class navigator to and from the drive to New York.

After last year’s air transportation problems, activities director Adam Riley made it possible for the team to travel to New York via school van. Driving allowed the team the opportunity to visit Ohio’s Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Lake Erie, and awesome “Grand Canyon of the West”–Letchworth State Park in New York.

Very generous contributions were made to the program from the State Envirothon, Smithfield Foods, Conservation Districts of Iowa, Barb Schroeder and the Winneshiek County Conservation Board, Marc Nichols, and Kevin and Leslie Sand. Advisor Larry Berland remarked, “We are very grateful to all of our sponsors and for all of the positive support from the Envirothon family and friends.”  Berland added, “I cannot express adequately how much I enjoy working with the Envirothon students. The number of total participants and their results indicate an awesome display on the part of our Decorah students with regard to awareness and concern of the natural environment. Living in this community is advantageous for these students because so many residents model excellent stewardship of their surroundings. A big thank you goes out to all of the administrators and faculty in the district who have helped develop these fine students. The students’ success is directly proportional to their never-ending efforts.”

Assistant Advisor Allysen Lovstuen, Aidan Nalean-Carlson, Gabriel Hiner, Advisor Larry Berland, Anders Lovstuen, Connor Evelsizer, and Lucas Arendt

Front row: Allysen Lovstuen, Anders Lovstuen, Gabriel Hiner
Back row: Lucas Arendt, Connor Evelsizer, Aidan Nalean-Carlson