Earlier this spring, 4th grade students from Cherokee, MMCRU, Alta-Aurelia, and River Valley had an opportunity to participate in the Cherokee County Soil & Water Conservation District’s poster contest.
The theme of this year’s contest was “One Water”. Nick Livermore, District Conservationist with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, and Laura Jones, Director and Naturalist for the Cherokee County Conservation Board talked with the 4th graders about the importance water has in our lives and what actions we can take to keep our water clean and available.
 Posters were judged on the following criteria: 50% for conservation message, 30% for visual effectiveness, 10% for originality, and 10% for universal appeal.
Cherokee SWCD Commissioner Ramona Nitz presented the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners from each school with ribbons, certificates, and Dairy Queen gift cards from the Cherokee SWCD.
From Cherokee the winners were Ashtyn Riley – 1st Place, Colten Carver – 2nd Place, and Abigail Walker – 3rd Place. Alta-Aurelia’s winners were Savannah Drefke – 1st place, Brantley Sargent – 2nd place, and Ryland Kopfmann – 3rd place. From River Valley the winners were KynLee Todd – 1st place, Casen Lundt – 2nd place, and Case Bolles – 3rd place. MMCRU’s winners were Kiefer Ivarson – 1st place, EmmaLee Todd – 2nd place, and Regan Frederick – 3rd place.
Savannah Drefke was chosen as the overall winner for Cherokee County and her poster will be sent to the Conservation Districts of Iowa Regional Director for the regional competition.
All the participating students’ posters will be on display at the Sanford Museum. Alta-Aurelia and MMCRU’s posters will be up from June 1st to June 15th and from June 15th to June 30th Cherokee and River Valley’s posters will be up.