To: / 2016 Envirothon Team Advisors From: / Nature Coast Envirothon Steering Committee

2016 Envirothon Team Advisors To:

From: Nature Coast Envirothon Steering Committee

Date: November 9th, 2015

Subject: 2016 Nature Coast Envirothon Rules & Regulations

Thank you for serving as an adult advisor to teams competing at the 2016 Nature Coast Regional Envirothon to be held on February 23rd, 2016, at Dade Battle Field in Sumter County. This year, Registration is ONLINE! The registration deadline is Friday, January 22nd, 2016

All materials will be updated and current as of December 4th, 2015. The study materials are available online at http://eec.pasco.k12.fl.us/EECs/Envirothon/Envirothon.html. Registration will occur from 8:00-8:45 a.m. with a short orientation before the competition which begins promptly at 9:00 a.m.

Each school will only be allowed to send a maximum of 5 teams. A pre-test can be found on the website that may be used to determine school teams.

This year we hope to award personalized certificates to winning teams, so we ask that you bring an index card with the team’s name, high school and members’ names correctly spelled with you to registration. Team restructures or substitutions are allowed prior to registration. Adult advisors are not allowed to have contact with the teams during competition and testing. A separate staging area will be provided.

Meals this year will be provided though a vendor that has not been finalized. Bottled water and/or soda will also be provided.

The following reminders/rules are provided to ensure that the competition is fair, and all teams have a good and enjoyable day.

 This is an outdoor “rain or shine” competition. All participants should dress accordingly, and they may want to consider bug spray, sunscreen, hats, and a canteen or water bottle. Small hand-held umbrellas will be allowed in the event of rain.

 Students may not carry calculators, palm pilots, laptops, cellular phones, cameras, pagers, and similar electronic devices during the competition. If a student is caught having any of these items in view during the competition, the team will be disqualified.

 Possession of personal medications must be consistent with your school policy.

 Alternates are welcome to attend and will be formed into alternate teams for the competition. Alternate teams are not eligible to win in any of the competition categories. 2

 All eligible competing teams must consist of high school students, all of whom reside in the same County. Teams consisting of less than five members will be allowed to compete but are not eligible to win in any of the competition categories.

 We ask that you remind all students this is an education-based competition, and their behavior, actions, and language should be geared accordingly. Horseplay, disruptive behavior, and foul language will not be tolerated and may result in a team’s disqualification.

 The winners of each county that are moving on to the state competition must be the SAME 5 team members that competed together at the regional competition. The only substitution that can be made is the alternate that is assigned to that team. Alternates on other teams and their members are not eligible to compete for a member of the winning team.

If everyone follows these simple rules, we should have another great and memorable Nature Coast Envirothon competition.

Thank you, The Nature Coast Envirothon Steering Committee