2026-2027 Contest Theme: Who Speaks for the Trees?
This year’s theme is focused on who “speaks for the trees” in their careers! Students are encouraged to explore what it is like to work in urban forestry, arboriculture, traditional forestry, and other fields that support the growth and sustainable management of our trees and forests. There are so many green jobs to discover in our communities and around our state, including:
- A forester works to take care of trees in a forest to meet specific objectives, such as creating openings for wildlife and harvesting timber to make wood products. They create forest management plans, measure trees, keep an inventory of tree species, and look for signs of disease. Foresters generally like to be outside, and they often work alone.
- An arborist cares for individual trees all over the city, including in yards, parks, schools, and more. They keep trees healthy by treating diseases and pruning dead or dying branches. Some arborists even get to climb trees to prune branches! Arborists often work outside, and they must have good communication skills to talk with customers about their trees.
- A GIS maps specialist uses computer software to make maps of forests or trees in cities and towns. They work with foresters and arborists to collect tree data and turn them into visual maps. GIS maps specialists often work inside, and they often have an eye for design.
- A park ranger teaches park visitors and students about the forest through nature programs and workshops. They also help enforce park rules and regulations to keep visitors safe. Park rangers work both indoors and outdoors, and they interact with people frequently.
- A hydrologist studies the water quality in a forest to see how the water percolates in the soil and the quality of water in nearby streams or rivers. Hydrologists take samples of the water and bring it to the lab for testing. Hydrologists can work alone or on a team, and they work both outside and in a lab.
Indiana Standards Aligned with Theme
- Science 5-ESS3-1: Obtain and combine information about ways individual communities use science ideas to protect the Earth’s resources and environment.
- English Language Arts 5.RC.10: Combine information from several texts or digital sources on the same topic in order to demonstrate knowledge about the subject.
- Indiana College and Career Readiness: Career Awareness (K-5)
2025-2026 Winners
The Indiana DNR Division of Forestry team is proud to announce the top three winners of our 2025-2026 poster contest. This year’s submissions were blooming with examples of how trees and pollinators benefit each other.
Thanks to the schools that participated and to the teachers who chose to highlight the importance of trees and pollinators in their classrooms.
Select image below to see a larger version.
First Place
Alice Kauffman
Goshen Intermediate School
Goshen
Second Place
Zelia Bancroft
Carmel, IN
Third Place
Isabelle Schipp
Ferdinand, IN
About the Contest
Join 5th grade students and teachers across the state in submitting original artwork for the annual Arbor Day poster contest by the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry’s Community and Urban Forestry program (CUF) and Indiana Project Learning Tree. Discover the important role of trees in Indiana’s urban and forest communities with annual themes designed to grow students’ understanding, appreciation, and stewardship of the trees around them. If you have any questions, please contact our office at urbanforestry@dnr.IN.gov.
How to Enter
- Students create their own posters
Explore this year’s theme with 5th grade students in the classroom and ask them to create a poster reflecting the theme and their own understanding of the importance of trees and forests. - Select a schoolwide winner
Gather your students’ posters and select a winner through a judging panel of school staff, students, parents, and/or tree professionals. You may consider contacting to your community’s tree board, city arborist, environmental nonprofit organizations, or local nurseries for tree professionals to see if they are interested in helping. Students who attend nonparticipating schools or are home-schooled may submit posters individually. - Submit your school’s winner to the Indiana DNR Division of Forestry
Scan your winning poster and include the Contest Entry Form with the poster. Submit to urbanforestry@dnr.IN.gov with the subject line “Arbor Day Poster Contest Entry.” The deadline for entry is April 2, and winners will be announced the week of Arbor Day.
Contest Rules
- Eligibility: All Indiana 5th grade students are eligible to enter their school’s poster contest. Each school may submit only one poster to the statewide contest. All schools are eligible to enter the statewide contest, including homeschools.
- Originality: Poster must be original artwork, no collages, no use of cartoon characters or television figures (many of these figures are copyrighted and cannot be reprinted).
- Medium: Posters may be drawn using markers, crayons, paint pens, watercolor, ink, acrylic, colored pencils, and/or tempera paints. Keep in mind that the poster must be digitized to be submitted.
- Theme: The contest theme must be on the poster, and the poster should be related to the theme in some meaningful way. Words on the entry should be legible and spelled correctly. Any included tree facts should be true, accurate, and verifiable.
- Entry Form: Please fill out and submit one contest entry form for school-winning entries in the statewide competition. Please have students print their names in the lower-right corner of the front of their poster.
- Sharing Permissions: Posters submitted become the property of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and may be used, without compensation, to promote future contests and other urban forest outreach programs.
Contest Awards
First-, second-, and third-place winners will receive a $529 account deposit award from Indiana529 to any new or existing Indiana529 account in addition to being featured on social media. The first-place winner will also receive a free tree planting at their school.
Educational Resources
We hope you are excited to engage your students with the tree-mendous professionals that speak for Indiana’s trees! Below are some resources and activities to help you get started, including Indiana 5th Grade Standards that may be taught through an exploration of this theme:
Project Learning Tree:
- Project Learning Tree is an award-winning environmental education program designed for educators of youth of all ages. Engage your students in learning about the environment through the lens of trees and forests. Explore the Project Learning Tree website for curriculum resources and free activities you can incorporate into your classroom!
- Questions about PLT in Indiana? Interested in PLT professional development? Contact Indiana PLT coordinator Lexi Eiler at leiler@dnr.IN.gov.
Arbor Day Foundation
- The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to tree-planting, urban forestry, and education to solve issues of climate change, community, and biodiversity.
- See the Arbor Day Foundation’s Learning Hub for its Tree Campus K-12 program for a curation of free and paid curriculum resources and classroom activities.
- Get some inspiration for classroom tree topics from the Arbor Day Foundation and access the learning materials in Carly’s Kids Corner!
Activities/Resources to Engage with the Theme
- Who Works in this Forest? from Project Learning Tree - Discover a range of forest-related careers that help to maintain forest ecosystems and ensure that forest products are sustainably produced.
- Forest Service Career Cards from Natural Inquirer – Download and print form a large collection of career trading cards exploring the wide variety of careers that support the U.S. Forest Service and download lesson plan ideas for using these cards.
- Trees for Many Reasons from Project Learning Tree – Explore the importance of working to sustain our natural resources with one of our most famous environmental fables, The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. How can we “speak for the trees” in any job?
- Explore green jobs and the Forestry Lifecycle at https://forestrycareers.com/
