Earlier this spring, 4th grade students from Cherokee, MMCRU, 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 “May the Forest Be With You Always”. 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 what forests are and where we have them. They also talked about the importance of healthy forest communities and what they provide for us. Lastly they discussed how to conserve diverse forest communities.  
 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 Easton Cronin – 1st Place, Isabella Gunn – 2nd Place, and Benjamin Wells – 3rd Place. Aurelia’s winners were Harper Simonsen – 1st place, Kollyns Langschwager – 2nd place, and Everlee Maldonado – 3rd place. From River Valley the winners were Kyra Rarrat – 1st place, Hadelyn Todd – 2nd place, and Ezabella Kline – 3rd place. MMCRU’s winners were Khloe Ryan – 1st place, Josie Alesch – 2nd place, and Addie Hueser – 3rd place.
Khloe Ryan 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 during the month of June.