• This year’s theme is “Trees are Terrific… In Cities and Towns!”
• Free pine seedlings offered to all contest participants

The Delaware Forest Service’s 2014 Arbor Day Poster Contest is now open to all Delaware students in grades K to 5. Public, private and home schools are encouraged to participate as well as after-school groups and youth organizations. Posters are due by April 4th, 2013. This year’s poster contest theme  – “Trees are Terrific…In Cities and Towns!”  – is dedicated to the important role that trees play in our communities and schoolyards. The Arbor Day Poster Contest is designed to help teachers incorporate trees into classroom learning and help students foster an appreciation for nature all around them. As in previous years, the Delaware Forest Service will provide all participating classes with free loblolly pine seedlings, which will be delivered to schools for planting during the last week of April.

• Complete Arbor Day Poster Contest guidelines and rules.
• Teacher lesson plan and activity guide.

State Judging Critteria
On a scale of 1-5, the following criteria are used to judge posters on the county and state level. These should be kept in mind when submitting posters:

• Use of Theme
• Originality
• Neatness
• Artistic Expression

Judges will be selected by the Contest Coordinator and judging will take place at the Delaware Department of Agriculture in Dover. Winners will be announced in early April.

Prizes Awarded to Winners
A winner for each county (New Castle, Kent, and Sussex) will be selected for each entry category (Grades K, 1-2, 3-4, and 5). From these 12 winners, an overall state winner will be selected to represent Delaware as we celebrate Arbor Day 2014. Please note: the National Arbor Day Foundation is no longer hosting a National Poster Contest for fifth grade winners. The Delaware Forest Service is committed to continuing the Arbor Day Poster Contest at the state level.

County winners receive:

• $25 gift card
• ceremonial tree planting held at their school
• invitation to the State Arbor Day Ceremony (attended by the Governor)
• “Tree inspired” children’s book
• winning posters will be reprinted on canvas, framed for display, and given to winner as a keepsake
• winning posters will be displayed online

In addition to the previous prizes, the State Winner will receive an additional $25 gift card.

Please visit the DDA Forest Service website to see the 2013 Arbor Day winners.

Posters must be received by April 4, 2014. Entries should be mailed or delivered to:

Ashley Peebles, Contest Coordinator
Delaware Forest Service
2320 S. DuPont Highway
Dover, DE 19901
(302) 698-4551
Email: ashley.peebles@delaware.gov

The poster contest is designed to supplement student learning in other subject areas by increasing their knowledge about how community trees have a direct impact on Delaware’s health and well-being.  Schools are a perfect setting to incorporate the role of urban trees into a wide range of subjects. Community trees are working trees that provide a variety of important natural benefits:

• provide beauty that can enhance neighborhoods
• shade streets and schoolyards
• create habitat and food for wildlife
• improve air quality and moderate air temperatures
• muffle noise and create privacy screens or windbreaks
• improve water quality by filtering runoff into streams and rivers
• reduce energy consumption

The Arbor Day Poster Contest also offers students the opportunity to plant their own pine seedlings as a great extension of their lessons about trees.

Teachers and parents who are interested in programs designed to increase their knowledge of trees, the many important functions of community trees, or to learn about grant opportunities to make their schools more “green,” visit www.plt.org.

Website link for 2014 Arbor Day Poster Contest Registration and Information
This link will help teachers and individual participants to:

1. Register a class for participation in the contest
2. Reserve free loblolly pine seedlings
3. Access the poster  guidelines and rules
4. Download a curriculum guide.

IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:

• Deadline to register and reserve free seedlings: March 14th
• Deadline to submit posters for state contest: April 4th
• Arbor Day in Delaware: April 25th
• Seedling delivery: Week of April 28th

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