The 2025 Youth Conservation Poster Contest, open to all Spartanburg County K-12 students, invites students to combine artistic skills with scientific knowledge to illustrate the theme “Home is Where the Habitat is”. Students may design their posters/images digitally or on paper (landscape orientation preferred), but all entries should be submitted electronically (photographs or scanned images of paper illustrations may be submitted as .jpg, .png, or .pdf files). Entries are due by June 30, 2025, but they may be submitted at any time!
To submit your poster, attach it and the information from this form to the Soil and Water Conservation District. Or to send through the mail, call 864.345.6787 or email the Conservation District for the address.
**Students from other counties in SC should contact their local Soil and Water Conservation District for poster submission guidelines**
Click here for a printable .pdf flyer
Click here for a printable .pdf of these guidelines
Rules
- Allowable poster/image sizes are between 8.5″x11″ and 14″x22″. Landscape orientation preferred!
- The contest theme (Home is Where the Habitat is) must be on the front of the poster/image. Click here to use the theme logo.
- Student and school names should not appear on the front of the poster/image.
- Any media may be used to create a 2D (flat) effect, including photos, paint, marker, ink, crayon, charcoal, colored pencil, stickers, collage, wallpaper, magazines, photos, digitally designed graphics, and flat objects found in nature.
- Posters must be the work of an individual student (no team entries).
- Entries should be the contestants’ original creations and may not be traced from photos or other artists’ works.
- Once posters are complete, make a .pdf, .jpg, or .png of your entry using a scanner or camera (or, in the case of digital illustrations, convert the image to a .pdf, .jpg, or .png file type), then have a parent or guardian submit the entry online using this form.
Recommendations
- Photographs and digital pictures are encouraged.
- Orient poster/photo as Landscape on your computer.
- Successful posters/images present a simple, concise visual message, similar to a billboard or bumper sticker.
- As much as possible, limit text to the contest topic (Home is Where the Habitat is). Additional text can be difficult to read and complicates the message.
- The contest topic should be in bold, clear, unique text. Make sure the words stand out and are easy to read!
- All text should be large enough to be read easily.
- Avoid fluorescent-colored posters.
Click here to see a sample.
Evaluation
Posters will be evaluated by a panel of judges according to the following criteria:
- Conservation Message: poster illustrates the theme “Home is Where the Habitat is” (50%)
- Visual Effectiveness: poster attracts attention, uses colors and white space effectively, is easy to read, is neat, and makes good use of color and shading. (30%)
- Originality (10%)
- Universal Appeal: information conveyed on poster is relevant worldwide (10%)
Submission
Have a parent or guardian upload a scanned or photographed version of your entry (.pdf., .jpg, or .png formats) using this submission form by June 30, 2025. Please retain your original poster entry in a safe location until September 15, 2025, as we may request hard copies of select entries.
Competition Progression and Awards
Spartanburg County winners will progress to the state competition; state winners will progress to the national competition. Cash prizes will be awarded at each level.
- County Competition: $20 prizes will be awarded to 1st place winning posters in each of five grade level categories; $15 to 2nd place and $10 to 3rd place. Also cash prizes for selected teachers who submit student photos/posters! Cash prizes are sponsored by the Spartanburg Soil and Water Conservation District.
- State Competition: $50 prizes will be awarded to winning posters in each of five grade level categories. Cash prizes are sponsored by the SC Association of Conservation Districts.
- National Competition: First place prizes in each grade level category will receive $200; second place posters will receive $150; third place posters will receive $100. Cash prizes are sponsored by the National Association of Conservation Districts Auxiliary and the Albert I. Pierce Foundation.
Sponsors
- Spartanburg Soil and Water Conservation District
- SC Association of Conservation Districts
- SC Department of Natural Resources
- US Forest Service
- National Association of Conservation Districts