Congratulations to the team of Jeremy Taylor (Niagara Wheatfield), Ian Kruger (Niagara Wheatfield), Anthony Enzinna (Wilson), Addison Schultz (Niagara Wheatfield) and Dan Wilkesmore (Lewiston-Porter) from our Conservation Program at the Niagara Career and Technical Education Center. The students, taught by Jay Kaplewicz, took 6th place out of 62 teams at the New York State Envirothon held at SUNY Cortland on May 28th-29th.
The hands-on environmental education competition that tests knowledge and understanding of New York State’s natural resources and challenges high school students understanding of science, public speaking and civic engagement. The 2025 competition focused on the current issue of Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a canopy of change. The competition included field station tests in soils/land use, aquatic ecology, forestry, and wildlife.
The students all said they enjoyed the challenge and being on the college’s campus. “I really love this program,” says Jeremy. “I have met some great people and I am going continue on with environmental studies in college. “It was a great challenge and definitely worth going to,” says Ian. “I will be attending Buffalo State for Environmental Studies.” Their teacher Mr. Kaplewicz says he is so proud of his team. “They did extremely well and I knew they would be at the top because of the wealth of knowledge and passion they have for the environment. It was a great experience for them and they worked very hard to get there!”