Massachusetts Envirothon Team from left Malini Gandhi Kaija Gahm Kavish Gandhi Ying Gao and Eliana Gevelber | Newton MA News and Politics Blog

Massachusetts Envirothon Team, from left, Malini Gandhi, Kaija Gahm, Kavish Gandhi, Ying Gao, and Eliana Gevelber.

The Newton North Envirothon Team, winners of the state championships in May, has gone on to place second in — not just the nation — but all of North America!

Here’s an email North science teacher Anndy Dannenberg, the team’s
faculty advisor, sent this evening to some of the people who helped fund the team’s travels to the finals in Bozeman, Montana…

I am overjoyed to let you know that the our team, representing Massachusetts at the North American Envirothon competition in Bozeman, finished SECOND PLACE overall!

Kaija Gahm and the team took first in wildlife, and they shared a first place finish in the current issue (rangeland management) field station. Eliana Gevelber and the team took second in forestry, Kavish Gandhi propelled the group to a third in soils, and Ying Gao led the envirogeeks to a fourth in water. Malini Gandhi, team captain, spearheaded the group’s excellent current issue presentation and held the team together all year with her superlative leadership, smarts, and organizational skills.

In addition to their academic prowess, the team was a paragon of sportsmanship, collegiality, collaboration, and friendliness. I was amazed by the good humor they exhibited even in the tensest moments of the week, and the genuine joy they showed for the successes of their competitors.

They were great ambassadors of the Commonwealth, and with their peers from 56 other states and Canadian provinces, gave us in the older generations great hope for the future of our society and our planet.

Thank you all for your time and support of the team as they prepared to and went to the competition. We are all enormously appreciative, and couldn’t have done it without you.

–Anndy Dannenberg