Poster Contest

Each year, Butler SWCD works with local young artists to create posters focusing on a conservation message. This year's theme is

“One Water"

We will pick local winners to represent each grade band to the State Competition. The State will pick winners and send to the National Competition. Butler County has had several state winners in the past.

Designing a poster and researching the theme can give you a voice in your community on important conservation issues. Good posters tell important stories to present and future generations. Posters capture people’s attention with a powerful graphic and inspire with a message for your community

Entry Form

All posters must have the official National entry form securely attached to be included in the contest. Please see the pdf below for the form.

NACD Poster Contest 2023.pdf

Contest Rules

Any media may be used- paint, crayon, colored pencil, charcoal, stickers, paper or other materials on regular posters.
All posters must be created by an individual student rather than a team of students.
Poster size: The poster can be any size. State winners will be photographed or scanned and sent to the national contest.
The title “Healthy Forests = Healthy Communities” must be on your poster.
Each entry must have signed entry form to be eligible for judging.
Although younger students will most likely receive help in planning from parents or teachers, NACD encourages each student to do as much of the work as possible by him/herself. Entries completed by students in their own writing and coloring will score better than those designed, drawn and colored by adult assistance.

Who Can Participate?

The poster contest is open to all public, private, and home-schooled students in grades K-12.

Age Categories:

K—1st Grade

2nd—3rd Grade

4th—6th Grade

7th—9th Grade

10th—12th Grade

Resource List

what is a watershed? A watershed is an area of land that channels rainfall and snowmelt to creeks, streams, and rivers, eventually leading to outflow points such as reservoirs, bays, and the ocean. Those bodies of water are all connected, so every drop that falls becomes part of one water.

Watersheds can be any size and usually have some high points of land like hills, mountains, or ridges. When rain, sleet, or snow falls to the ground, the precipitation runs from those higher points to the lower points. Gravity pulls the water downhill until it reaches a body of water. If the land in the watershed is steep, the water usually runs off into rivers or streams. If the land in the watershed is level, the water will slowly flow into lakes or ponds, or seep into the soil and add to groundwater. If the watershed is close to the ocean, then tidal marshes, estuaries, and wetlands will be part of the watershed. From the top of the mountain all the way to the coast, it is all one water.

Have you ever watched it rain? The raindrops fall on the ground and flow through the soil. Water soaks through the soil until it reaches groundwater, which is water that moves through spaces in soil and rock underground. A lot of the water we use and drink every day comes from water in the ground. As it rains and the water runs off, it collects in rivers, lakes, and oceans and then returns to the atmosphere to fall as rain somewhere else. All land across the entire earth is made up of watersheds. We all live in a watershed. We share the water in our watershed with other people, with animals, and with plants because… it is all one water.

Links to resources will be added soon.

Judging Guidelines

Conservation message(Poster uses correct theme) (50 percent)
Visual effectiveness (30 percent)
Originality (10 percent) and
Universal appeal (10 percent)

Deadline

Entries must be received by Butler SWCD by June 30, 2023 by 4 pm.
Posters sent straight to the state or national contest will NOT be judged. They must be judged in the county contest on order to advance.