Arbor Day

The Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division sponsors the following contests each year. Click on the links below to learn more.

• Forest Appreciation Week Writing Contest
• Arbor Day Poster Contest
• Winners and honorable mention of the 2008 Arbor Day Poster Contest

2009 Arbor Day Poster Contest

The Department of Natural Resources Forestry Division is sponsoring the seventeenth annual Arbor Day Poster Contest for all state 5th Graders. The contest is part of a national competition sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation.

The 2009 theme is "Trees are Terrific . . . in Cities and Towns!"

The artwork must be original and signed by the artist. It may be done in marker, crayon, watercolor, ink, acrylic or tempera paint. The brighter colors make the best poster! No computer generated art or glued collages are allowed. It must be no larger than 14"x18" and no smaller than 8½"x11". The theme must be on the poster, spelled correctly and easy to read.

Only one poster may be submitted per school, so a school contest is necessary. Judging guidelines are included in the lesson plan and contest rules.

Awards will be given to the top three posters in the state and the first place poster will be forwarded to the national competition. Wisconsin's first, second and third place winners will be presented with plaques and savings bonds of $100, $75, and $50 respectively and their teachers will receive two scholarships. The first is for a Learning, Experience & Activities in Forestry (LEAF) teacher’s workshop, the second is a scholarship to receive professional development training in the international award-winning Project Learning Tree program for educators in Wisconsin. Teachers will also be honored with books at an award ceremony in Madison in spring 2009. The Wisconsin Arborist Association donates the student awards and LEAF, Wisconsin’s K-12 Forestry Education Program, and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' Project Learning Tree program will each provide the scholarships. The three student winners will also receive a landscape tree to be planted at their school or in their community, donated by the Wisconsin Nursery Association.

Contest and lesson materials were sent to all Wisconsin public and private elementary school 5th grade teachers and art teachers in October 2008.

Entries must be postmarked by February 17, 2009.

For more information or additional contest packets contact: Arbor Day Poster Contest, PO Box 7921, Madison, WI 53707 or e-mail Laura.Wyatt@Wisconsin.gov.

For more information on the national contest, visit: www.arborday.org/kids/postercontest (exit DNR).