Bridgeport - A team from Sidney High School will represent the Panhandle for the Nebraska Envirothon Contest near Alda, Nebraska on May 3, 2014.

The first place team comprised of Karson Langley, Jessica Campbell and Logan Uhlir earned the state berth on Tuesday, February 4 at the contest held in the Prairie Winds Community Center. Fifty nine students competed in the split regional contest. Schools represented included Sidney, Gering, Bayard, Gordon-Rushville, Creek Valley, Garden County and Chadron at two locations, Bridgeport and Gordon.

On the way to the Western Region title, the top overall placing Sidney team and a Gering team tied for highest score on the Special Topic, which was Sustainable Agriculture. Second place overall in the Western Region was clenched by Gering (Team 1), as they grabbed the high score in Soils. Other topic winners were: Garden County in Wildlife, Creek Valley in Range, Sidney (Team 2) in Policy and Aquatics and a three-way tie for the top score in Forestry between Chadron (Team 1) Gering (Team 3) and Sidney (Team 1).

The Envirothon is open to all 9-12th grade students and encourages high school students to learn more about the natural environment. The contest challenges students' knowledge on aquatics, forestry, wildlife, range, soils, land use and natural resource policy or issues and one special topic of national interest. Five-member teams compete in a setting where they learn that cooperation is needed to achieve success.

Each year several regional Envirothon contests are held across Nebraska by Nebraska's Natural Resources Districts. The Western Region contest is coordinated by the South Platte, North Platte and Upper Niobrara White NRDs and the Gordon contest was held at Gordon City Hall in conjunction with a regional Future Farmers of America (FFA) Agriculture contest.

The winning team from each regional competition is invited to represent their region at the Nebraska State Envirothon Competition. An additional eight wildcard teams are also invited. The state champion goes on to represent Nebraska at the National Envirothon contest which will be in Athens, Georgia in August 2014. Members of the top ten teams will be awarded National Scholarships that can be used toward a four year university, two year college or trade school.