The 2026 Poster Contest Theme is “Soil. Where it all Begins”
Click here for the 2026 Local Entry Form– Return this to your local SWCD with your poster entry, deadlines may vary.
The annual Conservation Poster Contest provides kindergarten through twelfth-grade 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 conservation associations, auxiliaries and agencies. The poster contest theme follows the annual NACD Stewardship theme.
Each year, the poster contest starts at the district level. Individuals and teachers with questions regarding district contests should contact their local district. To locate your local district, click here or contact the VASWCD. District winners advance to the state level. Only Local Soil & Water Conservation Districts can forward their local winning poster entries to the VASWCD office for consideration at the state level. Virginia state winners will advance to the National Contest. National winners are recognized each year at the NACD Annual Meeting.
Any Girl Scout or Boy Scout who creates a poster and submits it to their local SWCD for judging can earn the VASWCD Poster Contest Patch. When submitting a poster to earn the Poster Contest Pat
ch, be sure to check the box on the entry form.
The contest is open to all K-12 Virginia students (public, private, homeschool, scout troop, etc.)
Background:
Rules and Resources
Click Here for a list of all poster contest rules.
Click here for the NACD Poster Contest Page for more resources
Click here for a guide to the Poster Contest Patch (also offers general information about the Poster Contest)
Click here for lesson plans related to the Poster Contest theme
District Organizers
Be sure to include a copy of the SWCD Local to State Form with your poster entries when submitting to VASWCD. Posters are due to Byron Minson (byron.minson@vaswcd.org) by October 16, 2026.
Prizes
State winners receive recognition and a prize from the VASWCD. The 1st place poster in each category will be submitted to the National Association of Conservation Districts’ Poster Contest.
The top three posters in each category of the national contest will receive monetary prizes. First-place winners will receive $200, second-place winners will receive $150 and 3rd place winners will receive $100. Monetary prizes at the national level are sponsored by the NACD Auxiliary from their quilt project and the Albert I Pierce Foundation.
Visit the NACD Poster Contest site for additional resources and information: http://www.nacdnet.org/general-resources/stewardship-and-education-materials/contests/