FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Three elementary school teams from Daphne and Fairhope took top honors last week in this year’s environmental education competition organized by the Alabama Coastal Foundation.

Daphne’s Bayside Academy’s team won first place, with Fairhope’s Bayshore Christian coming in second, and Daphne’s Christ the King finishing third.

“Our students worked very hard every school day from January to April to review materials and prepare for the contest,” said Sally Wilson, a Bayside Academy science teacher who has sponsored top contest teams at the school for several years. “It’s an excellent program and ACF deserves a lot of credit for hosting it. It’s the only competition of its kind in the area to offer cash prizes that help with a student’s future college education.”

Students on the first-place team received a $600 savings bond, second-place team received bonds of $400 each and third place, savings bonds of $200 each. The teachers for all three places will receive $500 each to be used for other coastal conservation activities, according to ACF.

“The Coastal Kids Quiz is an innovative way to encourage learning and conservation by challenging students and teachers to learn about a variety of coastal issues,” said Anna Keene, programs director for the Fairhope-based Alabama Coastal Foundation.

“We were especially fortunate to have an outstanding group of committed students and parents who put in extra time and effort since this was an extracurricular activity at our school,” said Bayshore Christian Director of Instruction Melanie C. Jones of the school’s fifth-graders, who participated. “The students worked very hard drilling the last six weeks before competition by staying after school four days a week,” she added.

“Students said that it was a lot of hard work and a lot of fun learning about our coastal environment, but it sure paid off at the end.”

Fifteen schools in Baldwin and Mobile counties competed Tuesday, April 28, at the 8th annual quiz bowl competition held this year at Daphne United Methodist Church.

Questions ranged from ecology to biology, local history and geography to basic conservation knowledge, Keene said.

For many students, this early exposure to these concepts lays the foundation for a lifelong interest in science, she said.

The following schools participated in the competition: Bayshore Christian, Bayside Academy, Christ the King - Daphne, Council Traditional School, Elsanor Elementary, Foley Intermediate School, Gulf Shores Elementary, Hutchens Elementary, J. Larry Newton Elementary, Knollwood Christian School, Little Flower School, O’Rourke Elementary, Silverhill Elementary, St. Mary’s Catholic School and St. Patrick’s School.

Teams of five fifth-grade students represented their school in the round robin, question and answer competition. Each game was made up of two rounds. In the first round, each team was given a specified number of questions to answer. In the second round, there was a set time period with toss-up questions that either team could answer as well as bonus questions. Points were totaled at the end of each round and the top two teams after five rounds competed in the championship round, which was moderated by WKRG-TV’s Alan Sealls.

“The kids were so excited to have a local celebrity conduct the championship round,” Keene said. “Everyone wanted to take pictures with Mr. Sealls. I think they might have been more excited about that than about the trophies they received.”

The event was itself a winner of this year’s Best Environmental Education Program awarded by the Environmental Education Association of Alabama.

“We are proud that Kids Quiz received the BEEP award this year,” said Bethany Kraft, ACF’s executive director. “The competition helps lay the foundation for a lifelong interest in science. As one teacher told me, ‘You never know the impact you are having on a student.’ I hope one day we will hear of a scientist who once competed in Kids Quiz.”