Who: We invite all K thru 5 students to join the fun and help us celebrate Earth Day 2013 by participating in the National Energy Technology Laboratory's poster contest!

What: Students create posters that show us what ?Earth Day? means to them. Their posters are reviewed by a team of judges who choose three winners from each grade level. Criteria for the winning poster are originality, imagination, and innovative ideas.

When: The deadline for all poster submissions is March 22, 2013. Please submit posters to the address listed at the bottom of the page. NETL will display all of the poster submissions at our research sites from April 16, 2013- May 4, 2013.

Where: The NETL sites that display the posters are located in Albany, OR; Sugarland, TX; Pittsburgh, PA; and Morgantown, WV.

Why: Earth Day is a time set aside every year to create an awareness of the importance of recycling, conserving energy, and improving air quality. It is our job not just on this day, but every day, to make our environment a beautiful place to live. By teaching our youth to appreciate the Earth today, we will help them preserve it tomorrow.

Prizes: All students receive a certificate for participating. Winners will have their names and entries posted on NETL's website, www.netl.doe.gov, under the Educational Initiatives web area. To view past year's winners please visit here.

Rules:

• Create poster on 8.5 by 11 inch paper
• Include the student's name; grade; teacher's, group leader's, or parent's name; school or group name; and a phone number on the back of the poster
• We're very sorry, but posters cannot be returned

NETL is one of the U.S. Department of Energy?s national laboratories. NETL ? ?the ENERGY lab? ? focuses on America?s economic prosperity, which requires secure, reliable energy supplies at sustainable prices. Three overarching issues characterize the energy situation in the United States. They are energy affordability, supply security, and environmental quality. The Department of Energy?s only government-owned, government-operated national lab, NETL is a research and technology center where these energy challenges converge and energy solutions emerge. NETL implements a broad spectrum of energy and environmental research and development programs through its own research staff and through funded research at other labs, universities, and industry that will return benefits for generations to come.