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Education FAQs

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What is the KOB Education Program? 
Keep Oklahoma Beautiful's Environmental Education Program connects Oklahoma students, teachers, and group leaders with hands-on learning across five topics: litter & recycling, wildlife & habitat, native plants, pollinators, and water quality. The goal is to move students beyond awareness into real investigation and action in their schools and communities.

Is this program free? 
Yes. All curriculum, resources, and competition participation are completely free.

How do we get involved? 
Jump in at whatever level works for your class:

  • Explore free classroom curriculum online, anytime

  • Enter students in a competition

There's no required commitment, start wherever makes sense for you. 

What classroom resources are available? 
Curriculum for each topic includes background sheets, vocabulary lists, discussion prompts, and reflection or investigation tools. Everything is free, grade-band flexible, and low-prep, grab what fits your classroom, use as little or as much as you'd like.

What student competitions are available? 
There are four competitions:

  • UnCapped Oklahoma! (Elementary) — Students build a work of art from plastic bottle caps and submit a short collaborative essay on what they learned about litter and recycling.

  • UnCover Oklahoma! (Middle School) — Students investigate a real environmental issue and present their findings as a poster, video, presentation, or invention.

  • Impact Oklahoma! (High School & College) — Students identify an issue on campus or in their community, design and carry out a solution, then document their impact through a campaign video or poster series. Each division winner receives a $1,200 scholarship.

  • Design Oklahoma! (K–12) — Students design the T-shirt worn by Great American Cleanup volunteers statewide.

Do students have to pick a specific environmental topic? 
For UnCover and Impact, yes, students choose whichever topic matters most to them: litter & recycling, pollinators, native plants, wildlife & habitat, or water quality. UnCapped focuses specifically on litter & recycling.

How do registration and submission work? 
Registration and submission are combined into one form with one deadline, no separate sign-up step. That means your class has the full semester to work through the curriculum before submitting.

Is this open to homeschools, co-ops, and youth groups? 
Yes. Public school, private school, homeschool co-ops, Scout troops, library groups, if you're teaching Oklahoma kids of any age or background, this is for you.

How are entries judged? 
All entries are judged internally by KOB staff. For most competitions, staff select finalists, who then go into a public Community Favorite vote, but the actual contest winner is chosen separately by KOB staff, not by public vote.

What do students win? 
Finalists are recognized with a certificate and a small celebration hosted by KOB – details TBD. Winners are invited to the Student Environmental Champions (SEC) Awards, held each spring. Impact Oklahoma! division winners also receive a $1,200 scholarship.

When are competition submissions due? 
January 31, 2027 for UnCapped, UnCover, and Impact. Design Oklahoma! entries are due December 31, 2026. Winners and finalists are notified by February 5, 2027, ahead of the public announcement at SEC Awards in March 2027.

Is this aligned to academic standards? 
Yes, curriculum is standards-aligned by grade band.

How do we sign up or learn more? 
Visit our Education Homepage! 
Who is the Point of Contact? 
Selena Simmons | education@keepok.org | (405) 445-4785

Our Impact This Year

  • Affiliates Statewide

    80

  • Oklahoma Counties

    77

  • Oklahomans Reached

    6,000+

  • Environmental Excellence Celebration Guests

    500+

  • Pounds of Litter Removed Annually

    8,000,000+

Thank you to our generous program sponsors:

  • The Chickasaw Nation
    The Chickasaw Nation
  • Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
    Oklahoma Department of Environmental Quality
  • ODOT New Logo
    ODOT New Logo
  • OTA New Logo
    OTA New Logo
  • OG&E
    OG&E
  • Warren CAT
    Warren CAT
  • WM
    WM
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