Poster contest asks,

‘Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators?’

By LINDA CHION KENNEY

Bees, birds, bats and butterflies take center stage in a newly announced poster contest focused on pollinators and open to school-aged children countywide.

Ninth-grader Caroline Evans placed first in her age category in the summer poster contest run by the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District, which featured the theme: “We Love Pollinators!” A similar theme is behind the newly launched poster contest.
LINDA CHION KENNEY PHOTOS

Presented by the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District (HSWCD), the contest is part of a national competition organized by the National Association of Conservation Districts. The contest reflects the NACD’s annual stewardship theme, “Where Would We BEE Without Pollinators?”

The 2020 theme follows the prior year’s focus, “Life in the Soil: Dig Deeper.”

With bee decline and colony collapse making headlines nationwide, the 2020 theme couldn’t be more timely, explained Betty Jo Tompkins, executive director of the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District (HSWCD).

“People don’t realize how critical the issue is with bees and how they pollinate our fruits and vegetables and even our nuts,” she said. “If we didn’t have pollinators, crops would be devastated, and it would affect virtually everything we eat.”

Not encouraging are the preliminary results from the latest annual nationwide survey conducted by the Bee Informed Partnership, with data collected and analyzed by the University of Maryland and Auburn University. According to the survey, beekeepers nationwide lost 40.7 percent of their honey bee colonies from April 2018 to April 2019, which represents the “highest winter losses ever recorded.” To combat the problem, survey officials call for an increased focus on research, best-management practices and extension services and education.

Toward that end, conservation officials hope that through the poster contest, students and their families will learn more about pollination and the importance of keeping bees.

“It’s a serious issue, and people don’t really focus on it like they should,” Tompkins said. “Because they don’t eat a lot of honey, they don’t think this really impacts them. The real issue is the pollination of food resources by the bees. The honey is just an added benefit.”

Sixth-grader Micah Evans placed second in his age category in the summer poster contest run by the Hillsborough Soil and Water Conservation District, which featured the theme: “We Love Pollinators!” A similar theme is behind the newly launched poster contest.

In addition to the 2020 school-year contest underway, the HSWCD conducts a poster contest in the summer, which this year focused as well on pollinators, with the theme, “We Love Pollinators!”

“The whole point behind poster contests is to educate young people, even as early as kindergarten, about the importance of protecting and enhancing our natural resources,” Tompkins said. “We want them to learn early that conservation is everybody’s business.”

So it was for sixth-grader Micah Evans, who took home a second-place ribbon in his age category for his poster depicting two plants, two pollinators and a spider web.

Evans said while he learned “pollinators are important to help and reproduce plants,” he also understood the higher purpose of the contest itself. As he put it: “It teaches it’s important to conserve stuff, so people in future generations will be able to enjoy them as well as we have enjoyed them.”

The deadline for submissions to the 2020 contest is Feb. 28. All entries will be on display at the 2020 Hillsborough County Fair, and top-place finishers will advance to area and state competitions and then to the national contest organized by the NACD.

Artists can use pencils, paints or markers and make their work 3-dimensional if they choose, but the size of each entry must be “one-half the size of a standard poster board,” Tompkins said, noting some of the rules involved.

Artwork will be accepted in both junior and senior divisions, with entries categorized by school-grade level. First- second- and third-place ribbons will be awarded, with cash prizes ranging from $10 to $50.

Meanwhile, ninth-grader Caroline Evans, Micah’s sister, placed first in her age category for the summer poster contest, for which ribbons were awarded at the Nov. 14 luncheon kickoff for the 2020 Hillsborough 100 Conservation Challenge. She said she learned firsthand through the poster contest the important role of pollinators.

“We couldn’t have our food without them because they’re how our plants recycle and regenerate, and that’s very important,” she said.

The HSWCD is comprised of five elected supervisors, including Mark Proctor, Michael Hepburn and Susan Dumke, who serve as chairman, vice chairman and treasurer, respectively. Rounding out the board are Andrew Brooks and Kathy Eckdahl.

Now in its fourth year, the Hillsborough 100 Conservation Challenge calls upon individuals, schools, churches, clubs and other organizations to engage in conservation projects. The resulting “actions projects” will be showcased in the spring, starting the weekend before Earth Day (April 22) and running through Arbor Day (April 24) and Soil Stewardship Week (April 26 through May 3).

For information about Hillsborough 100 and the 2020 poster contest and its rules and submission guidelines, call the HSWCD at 813-752-1474, Ext. 3 or Betty Jo Tompkins, at 813-477-8332. Email: bjt6890@yahoo.com or soilandwater@hcflgov.net. The poster contest entry deadline is Feb. 28. Submissions can be mailed or hand-delivered to HSWCD offices, 201 South Collins St., Suite 202, Plant City, FL 33563.