Periods of light rain this week had little negative impact on the outdoor activities of the annual Envirothon held at the Carbon County Environmental Education Center.

After all, in the words of Lions Club member Bob Silliman, “Rain is part of the environment.”

The Envirothon is sponsored by Lions Clubs District 14-U, Region 2, and Silliman was a representative of the Lions at the event.

The Envirothon features competitions among groups of students from schools throughout Carbon County.

Competitions are divided by grades and held over a four-day period.

On Monday, grades two and three competed. Grades four and five attended on Tuesday, and on Thursday, grades six through eight will be at the CCEEC. The high school competition was held last month.

The students visit five stations at the Envirothon: forestry, wildlife, soil, aquatics and current events. At the end of each day, the scores of all the teams are tabulated and the top four places are announced.

For grades two and three, competition was close — very close.

The first-place team was a group called the Envirothons from the SS Palmer Elementary School in Palmerton, with 451 points. Team members were Connor Farrell, Emelee Horn, Benjamin Mason, Calvin Mosiman and Mia Pereira.

They edged The Blue Jays from Lehighton Elementary School, who accumulated 450 points. In a close third was the Weatherly Five Stars, with 445 points. Fourth was the Towamensing Rubber Duckies.

On Tuesday, the Big Bomber Brainiacs from Towamensing Elementary took home first place. The team was comprised of Carter Richardson, Hailey Pisulak, Mathew May, Aiden Timko, and Andrew Rodgers.

Susan Gallagher, chief naturalist at the environmental center, said that the Envirothon has been held there since 1988 and she has been a part of all of them.

Initially, she said, it was called the Environ Olympics, but then changed to Envirothon.

Gallagher said she looks forward to it each year.

“You can see how much the kids love it. … We know it’s memorable for them,” she said.

Gallagher said students have athletic and academic competitions.

“This is for kids who enjoy the outdoors,” she said. “This is the opportunity for them to do something they really enjoy.”

The only impact by the rain on this year’s event was that some of the classes normally held outdoors were moved inside. Most of them, though, were held outside despite the wet conditions, letting the students enjoy the wildlife, learn about vegetation and see the many facets of the CCEEC.

One of the teachers is Jeannie Carl, a naturalist with the center who has been part of the Envirothon for 30 years. She instructed the current events sessions.

“I enjoy seeing their excited faces and being able to have them see they are part of the environment,” Carl said of the participants,

Other instructors were naturalist Franklin Klock and Carbon County 4-H Educator Kayla Fusselman, forestry; Ceil Enama, aquatics; Lisa McCarty and Lena Nalesnik, wildlife; and Caitlyn Skibiel and Ashley Klemczak, soil. Skibiel is with the state Department of Environmental Protection, while Klemczak is with the Carbon County Conservation District.