The 2025 NJ Conservation Poster Contest theme is: Home is Where the Habitat Is. This theme highlights the importance of both natural and managed habitat for wildlife. Encourage your child or students to create and submit a poster for this year’s contest. Download the rules and entry form for Ocean County. The Ocean County Grand Champion receives a $50 cash prize! The Grand Champion is selected among the First Place Winners of each Grade Group. All First Place winning entries are sent to compete in the Statewide Conservation Poster Contest for more prizes. Statewide winners move on to compete in the National Conservation Poster Contest. The deadline to submit posters is Thursday, March 6, 2025. See rules for more details, or email Becky Laboy, Education Outreach Coordinator, education@soildistrict.org.
Congratulations to Ocean County Soil Conservation District’s Grand Champion Winner of the 2024 NJ Poster Contest, Sapirse Parsons, 10th Grade, New Egypt High School. Our other 2024 First Place Winners were Abigail Scanlon, 8th Grade, Veterans Memorial Middle School, and Abigail Alaimo, 6th Grade, of Veterans Memorial Middle School. Congratulations to all 2024 winners!
The 2024 Poster Contest theme was: May The Forest Be With You Always. This theme highlighted the important role forests play in our everyday lives. Forests cover nearly a third of all land on Earth, providing vital organic infrastructure for some of the planet’s densest, most diverse collections of life. They support countless species, including our own! Humans now clear millions of acres from natural forests every year, especially in the tropics, letting deforestation threaten some of Earth’s most valuable ecosystems.
The Conservation Poster Contest is an annual contest sponsored by the NJ Department of Agriculture, the NJ Association of Conservation Districts the National Association of Conservation Districts and the Ocean County Soil Conservation District, which aims to promote a better understanding of the connection between natural resources and humans, in a fun and creative way that engages students throughout the county, state and nation.
Winning posters for past contests can be viewed below. We thank all of the students who participated in past contests for submitting their artwork. We offer a heartfelt “thanks” to the teachers who encourage their students by sharing their passion for conservation!
Questions? Call Becky Laboy, Education Outreach Coordinator, 609-991-1534 or Contact Us
2024 Winning Entries
“May the Forest Be With You Always”
Grand Champion Winner: Sapirse Parsons (Grade Group 10-12)
First Place Winner: Abigail Scanlon (Grade Group 7-9)
First Place Winner: Abigail Alaimo (Grade Group 4-6)
2023 Winning Entries
“One Water”
Grand Champion Winner: Mia Faulkner (Grade Group 4-6)
First Place Winner: Landon DeRosa (Grade Group 2-3)
2022 Winning Entries
“Healthy Soil Healthy Life”
First Place Winner (Grade Group 7-9): Owen Hein
Owen Hein, Grade 9, Southern Regional High School
Honorable Mention (Grade Group 7-9): Sophia Sereno
“Conservation means doing something to save or protect a resource. So that would mean soil conservation means a practice that helps retain and maintain the quality of the soil. We can help by preventing soil erosion through planting new things, taking care of them, or keeping soil from getting contaminated.”
Sophia Sereno, Grade 9, Central Regional Middle School
2021 Winning Entries
“Healthy Forests = Healthy Communities”
Grand Champion Winner (Grade Group 4-6): David Benson
“If we don’t help the forests they will look like the left side of my poster, if we do they will look like the right side.”
David Benson, Grade 5, Stafford Intermediate School
First Place Winner (Grade Group 2-3): Vivien Risden
“Don’t litter in the forest because Healthy Forest = Healthy Communities. My community likes to take walks on the trails at Wells Mills County Park. So do I!”
Vivien Risden, Grade 2
2020 Winning Entries
“Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators?”
Grand Champion Winner (Grade Group 10-12): Timmy Cheung
“Pollination is vital to life on our planet as bees and other pollinators create and maintain ecosystems that ensure the stability of our beautiful Earth. Bees are not the only pollinators as they include a wide variety of animals in which they play a crucial part in every aspect of the environment. As a student and a human being, I hope with my poster, one can see the symbolism behind everything in hopes of “stinging” the simple truth of the importance of pollinators and the roll they play in our lives as without pollinators we would not survive.”
Timmy Cheung, Grade 11, New Egypt High School
First Place Winner (Grade Group 7-9): Holly Depasquale
“I joined the contest because I took it as an opportunity to show my drawing to others and what I drew is 2 bee’s getting their nutrients from the pollen in the flower so it can make honey. If we didn’t have bee’s, we wouldn’t be here today.”
Holly Depasquale, Grade 7, Lake Riviera Middle School
First Place Winner (Grade Group 4-6): Lucia Street
“My name is Lucia Street from Ocean County. I want more people “Bee”ing kind to bees and other pollinators. My favorite pollinator is the ruby throated hummingbird.”
Lucia Street, Grade 4, Berkeley Township
2019 Winning Entries
“Life in the Soil: Dig Deeper”
Grand Champion Winner and First Place (Grade Group 4-6): Summer Sprague
“Soil cleans our water and increases the amount of available ground to farm. We must protect the soil to protect life. My poster shows the soil with all of the organisms helping make the soil and provide the food to the tree which is life.”
Summer Sprague, Grade 4, Tuckerton
First Place (Grade Group 2-3): Owen Hughes
“Healthy plants need healthy soil. Plant native, it helps your plant retane. Let plants be healthy, water and feed them every day.”
Owen Hughes, Grade 3, Beach Haven
First Place (Grade Group 7-9): Arina Svirska
“The person on my drawing describes soil. Soil should be treated like a person because soil is a living thing not a factory. Soil/person in my drawing shows a happy soil, that’s why there are flowers. Life is soil.”
Arina Svirska, Grade 8, Lake Riviera Middle School
First Place (Grade Group 10-12): Timmy Cheung
“Conservation is a key for our environment, but also for our future. This is our environment so we should take action for not only a better environment, but also a better future too.”
Timmy Cheung, Grade 10, New Egypt High School
2018 Winning Entries
“Watersheds: Our water, Our Home”
Grand Champion Winner and First Place
(Grade Group 4-6): Summer Sprague
“My poster is about watersheds. The girl standing on earth is me. The water drops show where the water goes near my home. Hope you enjoy!”
Summer Sprague, Grade 3, Tuckerton
First Place (Grade Group 7-9): Maria Cerezo-Serrano
“Part of the poster shows how our watersheds look like if we clean and not pollute. The other side shows how it looks if we keep polluting. We should keep clean the watersheds just like how we want our homes to be clean.”
Maria Cerezo-Serrano, Grade 8, Lake Riviera Middle School, Brick
First Place (Grade Group 10-12): Chloe Lewis
“It is crucial to me that we inform people of the importance of watersheds because they affect all kinds of life. My poster portrays their significance to organisms. From plants, to animals, to humans, our watersheds impact everything and thusly must be protected.”
Chloe Lewis, Grade 12, New Egypt High School, New Egypt
2017 Winning Entries
“Healthy Soils Are Full of Life”
Grand Champion Winner and First Place (Grade Group 4-6): Grace Boyle
“My poster shows compost to make the soil rich and healthy. A tree has been growing for years in the rich soil. There are animals that found homes underground.”
Grace Boyle, Grade 4, Cedar Creek Elementary School, Lanoka Harbor
First Place (Grade Group 2-3): Grace Byers
“My poster is about how worms and bugs live in the soil, and how grass and flowers grow out of the soil.”
Grace Byers, Grade 2, Midstreams Elementary School, Brick
First Place (Grade Group 7-9): Paiton Langan
“Soil is the root of all life.”
Paiton Langan, Grade 8, Memorial Middle School, Point Borough
First Place (Grade Group 10-12): Ben Werner
Ben Werner, Grade 11, Lacey Twp High School, Lanoka Harbor