This week is NACD's Stewardship Week! We are celebrating the 71st Annual Stewardship Week with the theme “Soil. Where it All Begins” through Sunday, May 3. This year’s focus highlights soil as a living resource that supports food production, water quality, wildlife habitat, and healthy communities.

Throughout Stewardship Week, conservation districts across the United States are invited to participate in various ways to celebrate and promote these vital natural resources. Conservation districts play a central role in outreach and education, engaging with their communities through the NACD annual poster and photo contests, by hosting field days or educating students in their classrooms, and more.

If you would like to get involved with NACD Stewardship Week, it's not too late! You can find an array of free educational materials here to share with students and educators around you or participate virtually through social media with our toolkit of habitat posts and captions. Be sure to tag @NACDconserve and #NACDStewardshipWeek on all your posts throughout the week!

VOLUNTEER AT YOUR LOCAL ENVIROTHON COMPETITION

Local Envirothon competitions are happening across the country, with students putting their environmental knowledge and problem-solving skills to the test in wildlife, soils, forestry, aquatics, and current environmental issues. Several state and provincial events have already taken place, with many more happening throughout the spring and early summer.

There are tons of opportunities for natural resource conservation professionals to get involved, donating their time and expertise! Contact your local conservation district or Envirothon program to find out more about volunteering.

These competitions are an important step on the road to the National Conservation Foundation's international event, where top teams from across the U.S., Canada, and beyond will come together to showcase their skills and passion for protecting natural resources.

This year’s international NCF-Envirothon competition will be held at Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, July 19–25, 2026. The theme is Non-Point Source Pollution: It Starts at Home! Learn more on the NCF-Envirothon website.

STUDENTS SHOW OFF THEIR CREATIVITY WITH SOIL-THEMED POSTERS

Around the country, students are breaking out their crayons, markers, and even glitter pens to craft posters showing the meaning of "Soil. Where it All Begins."

Conservation districts and state associations are currently hosting local competitions to determine which posters will rise to the national level. Pictured above are posters from the Dorchester County Soil and Water Conservation District's local contest. Congratulations to these and all the young artists for their hard work on these posters. The creativity of the competing students is inspiring!

State associations—please submit your state winners to the national contest through the Entry Forms. NACD extends a special shoutout to Florida for being the first state to submit their winners this year! National contest winners will receive recognition at NACD’s next annual meeting. Learn more about the poster contest on NACD's website.

DISTRICTS BRING SOIL EDUCATION TO CLASSROOMS ACROSS THE COUNTRY

Across the country, conservation districts are taking soil education straight to the classroom. From teaching students about soil health to encouraging hands-on learning with soil projects to inspiring creativity through creating posters, district staff, educators, and conservation partners are helping students learn all about “Soil. Where it All Begins.”

In Michigan, the Missaukee Conservation District (CD) showed students how soil is alive with hands-on exploration of soil boxes. At Lake City Elementary, Missaukee CD’s Conservation Outreach Coordinator, Erin Horton, brought two sets of these boxes to kindergarten and third-grade classrooms to spark curiosity in different ways.

The first set of boxes were mini vermicomposting boxes filled with red wiggler worms. Students were able to touch and observe the living world happening right beneath their feet. Holding the worms in their hands helped the students explore the idea that soil is not just dirt; it is a living, breathing ecosystem full of tiny workers.

The second set of boxes were filled with sand and fossils—including shark teeth, ammonites, petrified wood, and much more—along with identification cards so students could name what they found. This activity invited them to think about how many fossils might be hiding in the soil all around us and what that tells us about the history of the Earth.

“When a kindergartner pulls a shark tooth out of a box of sand, and their eyes go wide, you know something real is happening,” said Horton. “These activities were designed to help students feel the wonder of soil and the earth beneath us, not just learn about it from a textbook. Connecting that hands-on curiosity to the idea that soil is where it all begins felt like exactly the kind of conservation education that sticks with kids long after the lesson is over.”

In South Carolina, students at the W.E. Parker Elementary School connected with the soil by making their own “Root Buddies” with the Edgefield Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). Rhonda Thomas, District Coordinator, and Julia Cox, NRCS Soil Conservationist, visited a fifth-grade classroom to talk about the importance of soil conservation.

Using instructions from the activity placemat in NACD’s 2026 stewardship materials, the students were able to build “Root Buddies,” allowing them to watch root systems develop as their seeds sprouted in their own little greenhouse. They even decorated the bags with stickers and faces!

The activity was tied into a lesson on soil—what it’s made up of, how long it takes to develop, erosion and how to prevent it, and growing crops.

Want to get started with education initiatives in your area? With lesson plans, activity guides, printable handouts, presentations, and more, downloading NACD’s stewardship materials is a great place to begin.

Read this full story on NACD's blog.