Trees are poised to get a lot of attention from school-aged children across the nation in the coming weeks.

“We All Need Trees” is the theme for the annual essay and poster contest, sponsored locally by the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District.

District Clerk Nancy Melancon said the initiative encourages youth to learn more about why conservation is important.

“Our agency is all about conservation and education, so it’s just another way to teach the kids about conservation,” she said. “They have to do the posters, and they have to do research and think about it. Hopefully they’ll learn something about conservation and why it’s important.”

Essays and posters must be submitted to the district office by Monday, March 28.

“It’s open to all students, public, private, parochial or homeschool. We want everyone to participate. It can be done as a school effort or at home.”

The poster contest is open to students kindergarten to twelfth grade, and the essay contest is open to students seventh through twelfth grade. The competition categories are split up every two to three grade levels, and there is a separate special education category. A panel of judges from the community will select the winners.

“We have a state office we work with, the Mississippi Soil and Water Conservation Commission, and they actually sponsor it,” Melancon said. “They sponsor this statewide, and if you win first place you move on to the next level.”

Winners from Warren County will advance to the area competition, which includes 12 counties. From there, winners advance to the state and national competitions.

“Our local office has had several state winners in both the essay and the poster contests,” Melancon said. “We’re very successful.”

In addition to the opportunity for the first-place winner to advance to the next stage of competition, monetary prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place at $75, $50 and $20, respectively.

For more information, contact the Warren County Soil and Water Conservation District by calling 601-636-7679 ext. 3 or visiting 2660 Sherman Avenue.