JEFFERSON CITY – The Missouri Department of Transportation congratulates Krista McFarland and her Dressel Elementary School students in St. Louis, Jacy Chastain-Ware and her fourth grade gifted students at Graden Elementary School in Parkville, Joyce Kilgore and her students at Weaubleau R-III School District, and Judy Hopper and her Spokane High School students on being selected as winners of the 2026 “No MOre Trash!” trash-can-decorating contest.
MoDOT sponsors the contest as part of Missouri’s “No MOre Trash!” campaign to raise awareness about and discourage littering. The contest encourages students from kindergarten through 12th grade to join the fight against litter by decorating and displaying a large trash can with the “No MOre Trash!” logo and a litter-prevention message using a variety of creative mediums.
These first-place winners from each of the four competition categories (K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12) receive a $200 award. All first-place winners are then eligible for the $600 grand prize and trophy. Entries are judged by MoDOT staff.
Dressel Elementary School Wins K-2 Grade Category
Congratulations to Krista McFarland and her students at Dressel Elementary School in St. Louis on winning the K-2 category for their “The Great Garbage Truck” entry!
“Our class made a trash truck out of a trash can to show how important sanitation workers are to our community,” McFarland wrote in their submission entry. “Our project is a way to say thank you to sanitation workers for helping keep our Earth free from litter and to remind others to take care of our Earth.”
The school will receive a check for $200 for the category win.
Graden Elementary School Wins 3-5 Grade Category
Congratulations to Jacy Chastain-Ware and her fourth-grade gifted students at Graden Elementary School in Parkville on winning the 3-5 category for their “If You Like to Play, Throw Your Trash Away!” entry!
“During discussions about litter in their community, many students shared that they often see trash left behind at school sporting events,” Chastain-Ware wrote in their submission entry. “This helped students identify a problem they wanted to address by reminding people to keep shared spaces clean.”
The school will receive a check for $200 for the category win.
Weaubleau R-III School District Wins 6-8 Grade Category
Congratulations to Joyce Kilgore and her Weaubleau R-III students in Weaubleau on winning the 6-8 category for their entry, “I Speak for the Trees, Don’t Litter Please.”
“We used the Dr. Seuss Lorax theme to make a colorful trash can that’s pleasing to the eye,” Kilgore wrote on behalf of her students. “We worked well as a team, and we are very proud of our trash can.”
The school will receive a check for $200 for the category win.
Spokane High School Wins 9-12 Grade Category, Grand Prize
Congratulations to Judy Hopper and her students at Spokane High School in Spokane on winning the 9-12 category and the grand prize for their “Kraken Down on Trash!” entry.
“We wanted to help remind people not to throw trash everywhere, and that led to a lot of ideas,” Hopper said. “When we landed on the kraken and his arms collecting trash, we felt that was the one to catch people’s eye. We are very excited to have won the grand prize and grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the cause of ‘No MOre Trash!’”
The school will receive a check for $200 for the category win as well as $600 and a trophy as the grand prize winner. This project will be on display in the MoDOT Highway Gardens building at this year’s Missouri State Fair in Sedalia, Aug. 13-23.
The winners were among 35 entries from Missouri students. See images and information on all entries online at modot.org/trash-can-contest.
Missourians can help clean up litter through the “No MOre Trash!” effort. The statewide litter-prevention campaign works to clean up Missouri through education, prevention and cleanup programs. Schools, families, groups, organizations and communities can volunteer to pick up litter, educate others about litter, conduct litter-free activities and encourage friends and families to participate. For more information, visit modot.org/no-more-trash.
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For more information, call MoDOT at 888-ASK-MODOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org. To receive the latest statewide news and text alerts, signup for e-updates.
