MCGEES CROSSROADS - Five high school students stood knee deep in a grassy field while a light rain fell Monday. They held wooden sticks at arm's length at a stand of pines in front of them.

It may sound like some weird tree cult, but in reality it was the West Johnston High School Envirothon Team, the Sequoias, estimating the timber yield by using Biltmore sticks, a kind of visual calculator, and some math skills.

They're hoping that practice makes perfect, because the team -- Thomas Lineberger, 15; captain Erin Lineberger, 17; Frankie Johnson, 14; Stephanie Tolar, 16; and Lewis Braswell, 17, a recent Eagle Scout honoree -- is headed to Flagstaff, Ariz., on Monday to represent North Carolina at the Canon Envirothon. (The program is administered by the N.C. Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts.)

The students study wildlife, forestry, soils/land use, aquatic ecology and current environmental issues. The Sequoias did pretty well at the state championships, missing only one question out of 125. At the national competition, the youths will practice and study while driving on the way to the five-day competition. At stake are $5,000 scholarships for each team member.

The kids are serious and dedicated enough to have spent the past two spring breaks together.

"I'd rather be with them anyway," said Erin Lineberger from the porch of her family's house, where the surrounding acreage serves as a practice field for the team.

Before estimating lumber yield (or "merchantable timber," per Thomas Lineberger), the group measured the slope of a hill and the height of a huge hickory tree, using a clinometer to do both.

Relaxing on the porch, the youths talked of their special outdoors interests. Johnson said the girls like aquatics. Thomas Lineberger is into tree identification. Braswell likes wildlife and soils.

"I like the science of it, where Lewis is more into the practical," Tolar said.

On Tuesday the group had a practice presentation at a public library in Smithfield, standing before a panel of mock judges, parents and advisors for a final oral practice presentation. They presented a scripted management plan for a troubled fictional municipal watershed, listening to critiques and defending their decisions with confidence and maturity.

Melody Lineberger, a sixth grade science teacher at McGee's Crossroads Middle School (and Thomas' and Erin's mom) is the team adviser along with Heather Earp, an Advanced Placement environmental science teacher at West Johnston.

Lineberger thinks the team is ready but needs to learn more about the Arizona environment.

But something more awaits the group after the Arizona competition. Last year, Melody Lineberger said she'd take the team to see their namesake tree if they won the state competition.

California, here they come.

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