The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) partners with the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE) to host the Keep It Clean Kansas (KICK) Outreach Challenge, a competition for Kansas students in grades Pre-K -12. Classrooms work as a team to create and share projects that educate others about recycling, composting, and other waste reduction activities in Kansas. Three classrooms are selected each year to win a grand prize of $1,000.

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In addition to competing in the KICK Outreach Challenge, educators and students receive access to a free virtual classroom, also known as the “Waste Investigation,” which features a curriculum of on-demand videos and activities centered around recycling, composting, and waste reduction — virtual “office” hours for students and educators to meet and communicate with professional environmental educators. The course is student-driven and provides countless learning opportunities in the fields of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). KACEE hosts the online course and counts it as one of the two courses needed to achieve recognition as a Kansas Green School of Excellence.

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As an added benefit to Kansas educators, KDHE sponsors up to 25 educators annually to participate in an online professional development course to become a Green Leader and receive one Graduate Credit through Baker University.