Submitted by Dana Schmelzle

The Nemaha County Conservation District has announced its annual photo and speech contests for Nemaha County youth.

Photo Contest

The Nemaha County Conservation District is holding a photo contest again this year. The contest is open to all elementary and middle school students in the county. The photo contest is for any child in kindergarten through eighth grade.

Each student who enters receives a participation prize at the end of the school year. Photo contest winners will receive a free shirt. The top photos from each age group will then be judged to select one overall winner to move on to the state competition. The winners will be presented at the annual meeting in February 2024

All photos must be taken of a conservation practice located in Nemaha County. Submitted photos may not have been entered into other photo contests. Teachers have received information and rules for the contest. If you would like a set of the rules and contest information, please email Dana Schmelzle at dana.schmelzle@usda.gov.

The deadline for the contest is Friday, Sept. 29, so start taking pictures now! Contest entries must be uploaded as a .jpeg or .jpg file on the google form provided by the Nemaha County Conservation District. One photo per participant, please. The form can be found at www.tinyurl.com/nccdphotocontest.

Speech Contest

The Nemaha County Conservation District is again offering a speech contest to all high school students in the county. The Speech Contest is for any student in grades ninth through 12th grade. Cash prizes will be awarded to all participants. One winner will be chosen to attend the Area Contest where cash prizes are also offered. The Area Contest will be held in Nemaha County, the winner of the Area Contest gets to compete at the State level in November.

This year’s theme is “Healthy Soil, Healthy Life.” The time limit for the speech is within five to eight minutes and contestants may use notes written on 3×5-inch notecards. Speeches will be judged on content, organization, voice, stage presence, power of expression and general affect.

The speeches will be presented in person in October in Seneca. To register and to get a full list of rules please email Dana Schmelzle, District Manager, at dana.schmelzle@usda.gov or call at 785-336-2186 Ext. 110.