Whitko WHEP Takes 1st & 3rd, Team Takes 2nd Overall
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Staff Report-
SOUTH WHITLEY – On April 10, the Whitko Wildlife Habitat Education Program (WHEP) completed their first competition at the regional level, finishing second as a team overall.
The competition was held at the Salamonie Interpretive Center in Andrews. Juniors Robert Werstler and Ryan Brown placed first and third respectively, during their individual competition. In both individual and team competitions, Whitko will be represented at the state level on of the program hosted May 8 at Purdue University’s John S. Wright Forestry Center, according to a news release from Whitko.
Whitko’s program is coached by student teacher Noah Brown.
“I am beyond proud of this group and the work they have put into the competition and practices. They’ve shown interest throughout the entire time and fit in practice time around their busy schedules. We developed a saying during our practices and it was, ‘Be a shark and attack the day,’ and I would say the students definitely stuck to that motto,” Brown said.
To prepare for the regional competition, students were able to look at different wildlife management practices, which was a large part of the competition. They spent several days going out working and trying to decide what practices needed to be put in place in order to bring in certain animals that are native to the midwest and Indiana. Additionally, with the support of Scott Werstler, they spent a lot of time going over identification and learning the habitat needs of around 20 different species, which made up the rest of the competition.
In the regional competition, students are challenged in three different events: wildlife management practices, general knowledge in habitat needs of animals and a wildlife identification challenge. All three of these events are completed as individuals. Their scores are then combined to form the overall team score. At the state level, a fourth event will require students to create a wildlife management plan and present it to the judges as a team.
Heading into the competition on May 8, Werstler says he plans to study more for the general knowledge test, as he felt the team did well in the section of the competition surrounding wildlife management practices.
Brown felt optimistic about the upcoming state level competition saying, “With the regional contest being the first time we’ve competed in WHEP, it was nice to see how the contest was run and find out my weaknesses to make them my strengths for the state contest.”
Whitko WHEP includes team members Werstler, Brown, Lexi Funnell, Maggie Wolf and Katie Sharp.
