Georgia Envirothon

The Georgia Envirothon held its first competition in April of 1995 after 4 months of intensive planning by the fledgling Georgia Envirothon Council. The council itself held its' first meeting in December of 1994 after a phone barrage of state and federal agencies by Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School science teacher Terry Seehorn. Seehorn would serve as chair of the council for the first three years of its' existence. He was succeeded by Greg Kist. There were 9 teams in the first competition which was held on the picturesque Rabun Gap-Nacoochee campus. Stone Mountain High School was crowned champion of the inaugural competition and went on to represent the state in Idaho at the National competition. The budget for the original competition was a little over $4,000.

The following two years the competition was won by Morgan County High School. It was held at the Georgia FFA-FHA Center near Covington. Morgan represented Georgia in Nebraska in 1996 and in Pennsylvania in 1997 at the national competition. Year two saw 15 teams entering and year three had 33 teams. In 1998 the state competition once again returned to the FFA-FHA Center, but was preceded by two regional competitions designated as North and South. Oconee County High School won the North regional at Elachee Nature Center while Greenbrier High School was the South Regional champion. Oconee went on to win the state championship and represented Georgia at what was now known as the Canon Envirothon competition in Michigan. Also new in 1998 was a partnership with FFA which saw FFA give additional awards and send its highest ranking representative to its own national environmental competition. There were 42 teams in the 1998 competition. By this time the expense for running the competition had climbed to over $20,000.

In 1999 the competition spread to 4 regions. The regions were North, Central, Southeast, and Southwest. Rabun Gap-Nacoochee in the north, Oconee County in the central, Ware Magnet in the Southeast and Southwest of Macon in the Southwest were the regional champs. There were 50 teams in the competition. The state competition was moved to the 4-H center on Jekyll Island. In the closest competition ever, Rabun Gap-Nacoochee triumphed over Ware and Oconee (respectively) with all three teams only 1.7 points apart. RGNS went on to the Canon Envirothon in Northern California.

The 2000 state competition was held at Wahsega 4-H camp in Dahlonega. The four regional champions were Stephens County in the north, Oconee County in the Central, Ware Magnet in the Southeast, and Miller County in the Southwest. There were 56 teams in the competition. At this point the competition had a budget of over $25,000. Oconee County soundly defeated the opposition to make its second trip to the Canon Envirothon which was held in Nova Scotia. It was also the highest ranking FFA team

For the year 2001 the competition was housed at Camp John Hope near Fort Valley. The Southeast and Southwest regions were consolidated due to low registration. 43 teams registered statewide for the first-ever drop in the number of teams. Some of the drop was attributed to the new FFA Environmental competition, some to block scheduling, and some to standardized tests being given. Champions from the three regions were: Rabun Gap-Nacoochee in the North, Oconee County in the Central, and Portal in the South. In a tough competition that had many students holding their breath Rabun Gap-Nacoochee outpaced a determined Eagle's Landing team for the right to represent Georgia at the Canon competition in Jackson, Mississippi. The Eagle's Landing team was the highest ranking FFA representative. This team went on to win the FFA national environmental competition. Another FFA team, from Franklin County took home the inaugural "Rookie" team award for placing highest among teams new to the state competition.

The 2002 competition year began with redistricting the state in order to provide a more even distribution of teams to the regional competitions. The South was reunited, while the boundaries of the Central region were slid a little further South in order to facilitate the formation of East and West Regions. Champions for the four regions were Rabun-Gap Nacoochee in the North, Oconee County in the east, Eagle's Landing in the West, and Ware Magnet in the South. The state competition returned to the Georgia FFA/FHA center. Oconee County went on to take the top honors for both open and FFA teams at state in an epic one point win over a determined Ware Magnet team. The two scores posted by the front-runners were easily the highest scores ever posted in the competition. Oconee represented Georgia at the Canon competition held in Massachusetts. Putnam County walked away with the inaugural spirit award.

For 2003, a record 57 teams registered for the competition. Stephens County took top honors in the North Region, Putnam County captured the East championship, Eagles Landing cornered the top spot in the West and Clinch County "clinched" the top spot in the South. The state competition was held at the Jekyll Island 4-H center with Rabun Gap-Nacoochee leapfrogging the regional champs for the overall victory. Rockdale 4-H won the "spirit" award as well as the top placing award for a 4-H team. Clinch County edged out Stephens County by a point for the top FFA team award. RGNS went on to represent Georgia at the Canon competition in Maryland.

In 2004 the registration numbers slipped back again but the regions still had strong competitions. Rabun Gap #1 took the North, Ware Magnet won the South, Greenbrier won the East, and Rockdale 4H won the West. The state competition, held at Covecrest Retreat Center in Rabun County, seemed to give perennial contender Rabun Gap the inside track, but in a powerful display of knowledge and skill, Coweta 4H and Rockdale 4H battled for the top with Coweta 4H emerging as the winner and going on to represent the state in West Virginia for the Canon competition. Coweta also won the Rookie team and top 4H awards while Eagles Landing was the top FFA team.

2005 began with a consolidation of the North and East regions due to low registration numbers. Rabun Gap #1 triumphed in the consolidated region, while Ware Magnet #1 and Rockdale 4-H triumphed in the South and West respectively. This marked the first year where each of the regions had a repeat winner. Camp Kaleo in Forsyth was the location of the state competition. Rockdale 4-H outdistanced the two Rabun Gap teams to take home first place. Columbus High took home the rookie award, with Rockdale being the highest placing 4-H team and Greenbrier taking the top FFA spot. The Rockdale team traveled to Missouri for the Canon competition.