The New Castle, Kent and Sussex conservation districts are accepting entries for their annual poster contest from public, charter, private or home-schooled students in grades K-12.

Posters will be judged on the theme, “Healthy Soil: Healthy Life,” in the grade categories of K-1, 2-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. In addition, digital posters will be accepted from grades 7-12. First-, second- and third-place winners in each category will receive prizes of $50, $25 and $15, respectively.

Posters can be submitted electronically, by mail or in person to a conservation district by Oct. 28.

Each district will submit first-place posters in each grade category for judging at the state level. State winners will receive a cash award from the Delaware Association of Conservation Districts. In the event that an insufficient number of posters are received at the county level, the county-level judging will be eliminated, and all posters will be judged at the state level. Additionally, first-place state winners will be entered into the national poster competition.

The contest provides students an opportunity to convey their thoughts about soil, water and related natural resource issues through art. It also highlights the educational outreach efforts of conservation districts and their state associations, auxiliaries and agencies. The contest follows the annual stewardship theme developed and sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts.

The 2022 theme reminds us that healthy soils are the foundation for all life on Earth. Soil is an important resource for everything from human health to agriculture to water filtration. The imperative benefit of healthy soil is food production. Healthy soils also give us clean air and water, plentiful crops and forests, diverse wildlife and beautiful landscapes.

For information, visit here or contact your local conservation district: Rick Mickowski in New Castle County, 302-365-8979; Alisa Bentley in Kent County, 302-608-5370; or Siobhan Kelly in Sussex County, 302-856-2105.