The Poster Contest is open to k-12 students (homeschool students too!) in Elkhart County.

Theme overview

What do forests have to do with soil and water? Forests play a crucial role in maintaining soil and water health, serving as natural buffers against erosion and nutrient loss. The intricate root systems of trees stabilize the soil, preventing it from being washed away by rain and reducing sedimentation in water bodies. Additionally, forests enhance water quality by filtering pollutants and regulating the hydrological cycle. Through processes like transpiration, they help maintain humidity and rainfall patterns, ensuring a consistent supply of clean water. By promoting biodiversity and creating habitats, forests also support a wide range of organisms that contribute to soil fertility and ecosystem resilience, making them essential for both environmental stability and human well-being. Forests play multifaceted roles in sustaining our planet, serving as sources of oxygen, carbon storage, and vibrant hubs of biodiversity. They function as steadfast protectors of soil and water resources, preventing erosion, purifying contaminants, and nurturing healthy watersheds.

Size

Poster must be on 11″x17″ paper.
Poster must be in landscape/horizontal orientation.

Poster Design

Poster must include the theme title (listed at the top of this page).
Poster design must reflect the theme (listed at the top of this page).
Any media maybe used (crayons, colored pencils, paint, collage, charcoal, stickers, paper, etc.).
Poster must be student’s original artwork (no tracing of existing pictures/posters).

What makes a good poster?

Attracts attention
Is simple and concise
Uses colors and white spaces effectively
Text is large enough to be easily read
Text and illustrations are well balanced (not all one or the other)
Uses theme
Research the theme to brainstorm poster ideas
Doesn’t use staples, tacks, or tape.
Doesn’t use fluorescent-colored paper

Submission

Please include on the back of the poster student first and last name, school, grade, and teacher.
Posters may be mailed, scanned and emailed, or picked up for large groups.
If mailing, please send to Elkhart County SWCD, ATTN Poster Contest, 59358 County Road 7, Elkhart, IN 46517.
If emailing, please send in one pdf document (you may have to compress if too large) and email to elkcoswcd@elkhartcounty.com with the subject line “Poster Contest”.
If you have a lot of posters from several grade levels or classes, an SWCD staff member may be able to pick up the posters from your school. Please coordinate with other teachers in your building, so that the SWCD is only making one stop.
Once posters are submitted they will become the property of the Elkhart County SWCD. We will do our best to return posters to students after judging has occurred.
Poster must be submitted by December 18, 2024.

Judging

Posters will be judged in four age categories: K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, 9th-12th.
Posters will be judged by an education committee.
Top 3 winners will be selected from each age category.
Winners will have their posters featured at the Elkhart County SWCD annual meeting in the spring (see calendar for date).
Prizes will be awarded to the top posters.
The #1 poster contest winner will have their poster featured in the Elkhart County SWCD annual report.