Pali High Students ‘Up’ to Forestry Challenge

By STEVE GALLUZZO | Sports Editor

Five months ago, Palisades Charter High School sent three teams to Green Valley Lake for the San Bernardino Forestry Challenge. They placed first, second and fifth overall to qualify for the 2021-22 state championships in April at Camp Sylvester in Pinecrest Lake in the Central Sierra mountains, where, once again, the Dolphins impressed the panel of judges and their fellow competitors.

Guided by AP Environmental Sciences teacher and Envirothon Club Coach Steve Engelmann, all three teams finished in the top 10. One of them came in second, less than two full points behind the winning team from Foresthill High in Placer County.

In fact, the Forestry Challenge director was so impressed with Pali High’s runner-up team that she arranged for the students to give their presentation to Cal Fire, the state agency responsible for wildfire management.

The focus topic for the state championships was California’s Wildfire Crisis—A Call to Action. Students became familiar with the immense scope of the wildfire crisis, particularly over the last two years, identified stakeholders and their relationships, and recommended action items for one stakeholder.

Presentations were required to include an overview of the wildfire crisis; a listing of the various stakeholder groups with an interest in the crisis; relationships between two stakeholders, highlighting three, with examples of past interactions and advice for improving those relationships to advance their causes; and three recommended action items for one stakeholder group.

The final project was a PowerPoint presentation detailing the wildfire crisis in California and specific actions one group can take to help solve it. Teams were encouraged to use photos and information collected while at the event, interviews with various stakeholders, and information on flash drives they were provided.

A total of 61 students from 10 schools participated.

When the scores were tabulated, Foresthill was first with 199.3 out of a possible 250 points, followed by Pali High’s top team (197.7 points), two teams from Golden Sierra High in El Dorado County and Pali High’s No. 2 team (178.8).

The other participating schools were Charter Connections, Amador, El Dorado, Calaveras, Granada Hills, Eleanor Roosevelt Community Learning Center in Tulare) and Nevada Union. There were 18 teams in all.

“The teams were the same except for one new member, Diana, who we are all happy could join us this time around,” team member May Millner said.

Also representing Palisades were Andrew Wu, Samuel Javedanfar, Andrea Arreortua, Stella Becir, Jenna Barad, Livia Rosenmayr, Maren Carrere, James Lewis, Cleo Waxman-Lee and Ella Taghibagi.

A cold late-season storm brought eight inches of snow as the teams arrived—a new experience for many of them. The two-year hiatus brought about by COVID-19 allowed organizers the opportunity to update the focus topic to a big-picture concept rather than data-centric.

During the Challenge, teams completed a rigorous field test to assess their technical forestry knowledge and data collecting skills. Several groups toured the Sierra Pacific Industries mill in Sonora and tours were also given at the SPI mill at China Camp after the event.