STORY ECO-Meet, One Great Program  OUTDOOR ADVENTURES…..Emporia Gazette, October 2007

Goodness gracious!  I just thought I knew something about animals and the Great Outdoors.  At a time when most high schools are involved with football playoffs, Halloween Day found me traveling to Rock Springs 4-H Center, south of Junction City.  I wanted to see what the 2007 Kansas Schools’ ECO-Meet was all about.  On this beautiful blustery fall day, 85 students from 20 Kansas schools competed for scholarships in both team and individual competition in a state meet format.  I could only marvel at their display of naturalist skills and knowledge. This event intrigued me even at my age because of my life-long interest in wildlife and our environment. 

Just outside of Herington I saw a small flock of prairie chicken numbering a dozen or so.  About the same time, I heard on the radio Smith Center’s football team scored over 70 points in the first quarter of their playoff game the night before.  How ironic? Congrats to Smith Center, but what a sad turnabout for the prairie chicken. What in the world is going on?  When I was a kid, prairie chicken in flocks numbering close to 100 were a common sight.  I could only reminisce of  days gone by as the small flock of chickens flitted and soared out of sight over the grassland, destination unknown. .

 The 2007 ECO event marked the 9^th year for this statewide competition sponsored by the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks.  Teams and individuals qualified from seven locations across Kansas where forty-six schools participated in regional competitions this fall.  In all, 106 teams, totaling 398 students, participated in these regional events. 

Regional competitions were held at Milford Nature Center near Junction City, Lakewood Discovery Center in Salina, Great Plains Nature Center in Wichita, Dillon Nature Center in Hutchinson, Southeast Kansas Education Service Center in Greenbush, and at education centers on Wilson and Webster Reservoirs further west.  Emporia would sure be a good fit to host a regional ECO meet.

The Kansas ECO-Meet program is the brainchild of Pat Silovsky, Director of the Milford Nature Center, Milford Lake, and Cynthia Dierks, a Park Ranger with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.  To Cynthia, the program is a “Labor of Love.”  I need to agree with her.  It is a thrill to see the kids take such an interest in the Outdoors and be a part of this program.  The Kansas ECO-meet was developed back in 1991 and was based on a program done by the Corps of Engineers in the Pittsburg, Pennsylvania District.

The mission of the Kansas ECO-Meet is to challenge and inspire an interest, appreciation and understanding of the natural sciences and the Kansas environment through interscholastic competition.

The competition included four events. Interpretive Skits and the Scavenger Hunt, where the students had to showcase their knowledge of Kansas’ plants, were my favorites.  The Interpretive Event gave students the opportunity to learn about a specific wildlife species and the team was required to put together a skit or scenario performed in front of judges and the general audience.  The scenario showed how these particular animals might  interact with each other in the wild.  The kids had five minutes to provide details about the lifecycle of each species and what it needs to survive.

The Scavenger Hunt event required teams to find items included on a list of 30 to 40 forbs, grasses, woody plants, animals and other natural items in a 30-minute period.  The team then had to name and show each item to a judge, who critiqued their knowledge.   

The remaining two events were classroom, lab-style tests.  One dealt with various Kansas ecosystems and the other one focused on a specific group of Kansas wildlife. The Ecosystem Test for this year was on wetlands and aquatic environments and started with the students needing to identify the sounds of six critters found in those areas.  The  Focus Test concentrated on invertebrates (i.e. insects, arthropods, mussels, spiders, etc.).

Scholarships were awarded to the top three teams, with scholarship money being held in an account with the Kansas Wildscape Foundation until the students graduate from high school and enroll in an institute of higher learning. The money is then credited to the post-secondary school in the student's name to help in furthering their education. 

Anyone interested in learning more about Kansas ECO-Meet competitions should phone Mike Rader at 620-672-0708 or email miker@wp.state.ks.us. Or please visit the Kansas ECO-Meet web page at: www.kansasecomeet.org. New teams, potential coaches, and new sponsors are encouraged. Perhaps one of these scholars will further their education and help us less knowledgeable people understand the effects of global warming, coal plants and wind generators.  It would sure be nice to see the great flocks of prairie chickens once again!