Opportunities through CDI to conduct education and outreach to Iowa’s youth Courtney Slagle Office and Projects Manager Conservation Districts of Iowa

 Provides K-12 grade students an opportunity to convey their thoughts about soil, water and related natural resource issues through art  Annual Stewardship theme  Created on poster paper using mediums that inspire the students  District, State & National level Conservation Poster Contest

Conservation Poster Contest Schedule September, 2015: Participating SWCD’s get the word out about the 2016 Conservation Poster Contest Friday, March 25, 2016: Applicants submit their poster to the SWCD office in the county which their school is located Friday, May 13, 2016: The local SWCD chooses one county winner from each of the five grade categories to submit to their CDI Regional Director Friday, June 3, 2016: CDI Regional Directors will have chosen forty-five winners to move on for State consideration June, 2016: CDI Regional Directors will choose one State Winner from each of the five categories from those forty-five Regional Winners at the CDI June Board Meeting July, 2016: CDI will send awards to local SWCD offices who will in turn notify the student, school & local media September, 2016: State posters are on display at Annual Conference January, 2017: State posters are on display at NACD annual meeting

Conservation Poster Contest Materials Promotional Flyer Entry Form Resources List

 38 Districts received 4,530 posters  35 cash prizes in the amount of $1300 to students with winning posters thanks to Grinnell Mutual!  5 state winning posters on display at Annual Conference - will be forwarded on to NACD for consideration at the national level Conservation Poster Contest in Stewardship Theme/Sponsor:

Conservation Poster Contest participating Iowa Counties

 Reach out to specific teachers in art, environmental and other related fields  Find your professional teacher organizations  Take materials to teachers, FFA Advisors, 4H  Interested? Next year’s Poster Contest info will be available at this month! Conservation Poster Contest Getting Involved 2016 Stewardship Theme/Sponsor:

 CDI partners with SWCDs to foster the higher education endeavors of Iowa students by offering scholarships  Students pursuing programs of study in any field of conservation or agriculture  3 State Winners & 6 Regional Winners Conservation Scholarship Program

 Friday, February 26, 2016: Applicants submit their scholarship applications to the SWCD Office in the county which they reside in  Friday, March 25, 2016: The local SWCD chooses a county application to forward on to their CDI Regional Director  Friday, April 8, 2016: The CDI Regional Director chooses a regional application to forward on for consideration at the state level  Friday, April 15, 2016: A judging team of CDI officers, regional directors & alternates then make the final selections  Friday, April 22, 2016: CDI will then alert the local SWCD offices with winning applicants. Local SWCD offices will in turn notify the student, school & local media Conservation Scholarship Program Schedule

Conservation Scholarship Program Materials Region 6 Larry Beeler Fund Scholarship Application Scholarship Rules

 75 Districts received 193 scholarships  $12,950 was awarded to 9 students pursuing careers in conservation and agriculture  Contributions from Districts to the auction make this program possible Conservation Scholarship Program in 2015

Conservation Scholarship Program participating Iowa Counties

Conservation Scholarship Program Getting Involved  Reach out to guidance counselors, ag and environmental science teachers, FFA Advisors, 4H  Find other like organizations offering scholarships and post through them  Interested? Next year’s Scholarship info will be available at this month!

 North America's largest high school environmental competition  Problem-solving, natural resource education program  Teams of 5 students  Cover five categories: soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatic ecology, and environmental issues  Regional, State & National Envirothon

Envirothon Materials Envirothon Overview Envirothon Registration Envirothon Learning Objectives

 255 students made up 50 teams that competed at 6 regional competitions hosted around the state  15 teams –55 students - moved on to compete in the state competition  The St. Ansgar FFA Envirothon team represented Iowa at the 2015 National Envirothon competition at Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri Envirothon in 2015 This year is the Iowa Envirothon’s 20 th Anniversary!

Envirothon Participating Iowa Counties

 Reach out to ag and environmental science teachers, FFA Advisors, 4H  Recruit a teacher  Provide training/field study  Sponsor a team  Donate to the Iowa Envirothon Envirothon Getting Involved

Celebrate Soil & Water Conservation Week

 45 District outreach activities and 7 partner outreach activities were reported around the week! Save the Date for 2016 Soil and Water Conservation Week: Sunday, April 24 – Sunday, May 1 Soil & Water Conservation Week in 2015 Proclamation signing Warren County store front display Washington SWCD youth with trees