{"id":44479,"date":"2025-04-25T08:10:35","date_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:10:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/?p=44479"},"modified":"2025-04-25T08:10:35","modified_gmt":"2025-04-25T12:10:35","slug":"prince-georges-county-fifth-grader-wins-maryland-arbor-day-poster-contest-and-15-trees-for-capitol-heights-elementary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/2025\/04\/25\/prince-georges-county-fifth-grader-wins-maryland-arbor-day-poster-contest-and-15-trees-for-capitol-heights-elementary\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince George\u2019s County Fifth Grader Wins Maryland Arbor Day Poster Contest \u2013 And 15 Trees for Capitol Heights Elementary"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Two

State Comptroller Brooke Lierman and Department of Natural Resources Secretary Josh Kurtz stand with the top three winning entries of the 2025 Maryland Fifth Grade Arbor Day Poster contest. Maryland DNR photo.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kaliyah Thorpe of Capitol Heights Elementary School in Prince George\u2019s County won first place in the 2025 Maryland Fifth Grade Arbor Day Poster Contest, sponsored by the Maryland Forest Service.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The annual event challenges fifth graders across the state to use their creativity, crafting artful posters capturing a terrific tree-related theme. The 2025 theme was \u201cTrees Are Terrific \u2026 And Forests Are Too.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Thorpe and runners up will receive a Smokey Bear gift package, as well as a tree planting at their school \u2013 15 trees for first, 10 for second and five for third.<\/span><\/p>\n

Entries were judged by a panel including Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Secretary Josh Kurtz and Maryland Comptroller Brooke Lierman.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Arbor Day poster contest is a great seed we are planting to teach young people across the state the value of our trees and all they do for our planet,\u201d Comptroller Lierman said. \u201cI applaud the young artists for their hard work, creativity, and appreciation for the environment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Secretary Kurtz was impressed by the variety and quality of this year\u2019s entries. The poster contest engages children at a stage of life where they are rapidly learning about the world around them, he said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese programs allow Maryland students to learn about the critically important benefits of trees, which improve habitat and water quality, filter air, and reduce carbon emissions,\u201d Kurtz said. \u201cIt was a pleasure to view the students\u2019 work and I want to give a big congratulations to the winners.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Maya Toze of Maryvale Elementary School in Montgomery County took home second place. Zack Jenkins of Chesapeake Public Charter School in St. Mary\u2019s County took home third place.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Each year, the Maryland Forest Service, in partnership with the Maryland Forest Conservancy District Boards, invites Maryland\u2019s fifth graders to submit a poster following a yearly theme. Posters are first judged on a county level and the winner from each county is forwarded to the Maryland Urban and Community Forestry Committee to be included in the annual contest. The judging took place April 23 at DNR headquarters in Annapolis.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Four

Maryland Forest Service staff and guests reviewed and voted on the winning posters submitted to the annual Fifth Grade Arbor Day Poster Contest. From left to right, State Forester Anne Hairston-Strang, DNR Secretary Josh Kurtz, State Comptroller Brooke Lierman, and Urban and Community Forestry Supervisor Dan Coy view all submitted posters, displayed at DNR headquarters in Annapolis. Maryland DNR photo.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kaliyah Thorpe of Capitol Heights Elementary School in Prince George\u2019s County won first place in the 2025 Maryland Fifth Grade Arbor Day Poster Contest, sponsored by the Maryland Forest Service.\u00a0 The annual event challenges fifth graders across the state to use their creativity, crafting artful posters capturing a terrific tree-related theme. The 2025 theme was  Read the Rest…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":146,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[957,1965],"tags":[2941,5389,5352,4994,5368],"class_list":["post-44479","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appnews","category-maryland-forest-service","tag-arbor-day-poster-contest","tag-brooke-lierman","tag-josh-kurtz","tag-maryland-forest-service","tag-tree-planting"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44479"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44479\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44488,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44479\/revisions\/44488"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/dnr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}