Overall State Winner

Grade 5 student Alyssa DeLuca of Brandywine Springs Elementary is the state winner of the Delaware Forest Service’s annual Arbor Day School Poster Contest.

This year’s contest attracted entries from 44 schools and 73 classrooms, with a total of 2,748 students participating. This year’s theme was “Trees Are Terrific…in Many Wonderful Ways!” Posters were judged on originality, use of theme, neatness, and artistic expression. Each winner receives a gift card, a tree-themed book, and a tree planting at their school.  Twelve winners were selected from each county in four grade categories: kindergarten, grade 1 and 2, grade 3 and 4, and grade 5.

The complete gallery of winners is shown below (click the image to view a full-resolution image of the artwork)

The poster contest is designed to increase student knowledge about forests and forest resources. For teachers, the poster contest can be an ideal way for students to learn more about the role of trees in our communities and their direct impact on Delawareans’ health and well-being. The schoolyard is also a perfect setting to incorporate the role of trees into your everyday curriculum. Trees not only provide beauty, shade, and habitat and food for wildlife, they also improve air quality, muffle noise, moderate air temperatures, filter runoff into streams and rivers, and reduce energy consumption.