This summer, from July 20 to 26, the Granada Hills Charter (GHC) Envirothon team attended The National Conservation Foundation (NCF) Envirothon Nationals hosted in Calgary, Alberta, Canada at Mount Royal University.
Envirothon placed 28th out of 51 teams, scoring among the highest in the soils category. Over 250 students gathered to compete with high schools from across the USA, Canada, and China.
NCF-Envirothon 2025 concluded with Lexington High School from Massachusetts winning first place with $50,000 in scholarships and prizes.
This year’s theme was “Roots and Resiliency: Fostering Forest Stewardship in a Canopy of Change.” Following that theme, students participated in field work and 20 minute group presentations to analyze how forestry and climate change impact one another.
Envirothon is an environmental and natural resource competition that challenges students to integrate their experiences with team building, critical thinking, outdoor field work, problem solving, and public speaking. They learn to provide solutions for real world environmental problems today and promote change to mitigate these current issues.
“We were ecstatic, jumping up and down, and taking pictures with our trophy,” senior Zoey Acuna said. “It just felt like all our work had paid off so well.”
The Envirothon team spent ten days in Canada with six days spent at the competition. The team expressed how much stronger of a connection this created as they competed so far from home.
The team prepared by spending hours collaborating as a group, making presentations, and even resolving disputes. Ultimately, these experiences brought the team together with a strong bond, which helped them in the competition.
“We did so many activities together that it brought us much closer,” junior Samuel Rivas said. “Honestly, these are people that I will remember for the rest of my life.”