Chandler honors 19 fourth-graders in 2025 Kids for Conservation art contest

Chandler city officials onstage Wednesday recognized 19 fourth-grade students as winners of the 2025 environmental art contest, selected from more than 500 entries across 32 schools.

Mayor Kevin Hartke congratulated the students and told the audience the artworks ‘‘promot[ing] recycling, water conservation, and stormwater pollution prevention will be showcased to inspire conservation efforts through the Chandler community.’’

The contest, organized by the city’s recycling, environmental resources, water conservation and stormwater divisions, was described by staff as a long-running outreach effort that began two decades ago. Tracy Conaway, recycling programs analyst for the City of Chandler, said the divisions deliver entry packets to all fourth-grade students in Chandler in late January, collect submissions before spring break, and then staff vote to pick winners in three categories plus a calendar cover. "We use the criteria of the 4 c's of creativity, content, what the message, gives out, the colorfulness, and is does it have a Chandler focus?" Conaway said.

Conaway also described the city's recycling program: it began in 1995, serves about 80,000 residents and offers curbside recycling plus a solid-waste collection center that accepts cardboard, electronics, scrap metal, tires and some household hazardous waste. She said the winning recycling artworks will appear on the side of the city's collection trucks.

Rick Torianan, environmental services program coordinator, framed the stormwater category as public-education tied to regulation: "Our division manages a stormwater permit issued by the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality to comply with the Clean Water Act," he said, adding that stormwater can carry trash, chemicals and dirt into parks and waterways because that runoff is not treated.

Tiffany Stoyak, the city's water conservation program manager, told attendees that Arizona's hotter, drier trend makes conservation important and that Chandler has invested in a resilient water portfolio. "It's very important to be mindful about what we can do with water conservation, how we use our water today," she said, and invited questions after the ceremony and on the city's website, chandleraz.gov/water.

Organizers said the 19 winning pieces will be featured in the 2026 Kids for Conservation calendar; multiple copies will be mailed to winners and thousands more printed for distribution at the recycling center, city hall, libraries and the nature center. Tracy Conaway named the calendar cover winner as Audrey (teacher Mrs. Eichner) from BASIS Chandler Pioneer.

The ceremony closed with a group photo and a reception with sweet treats and gift bags for students and families. No formal council action or vote was part of the event; it was an awards presentation and public outreach program.