FAQ and Resources

Keep It Clean, Kansas! (KICK) Challenge

A waste-reduction competition for K-12 students, with cash prizes for your school!

The KICK Challenge is open to every K-12 school in Kansas and runs from October 15, 2026 through February 14, 2027. Every point your students earn counts toward your school's total, and your efforts could win your school cash prizes.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Association for Conservation and Environmental Education (KACEE) have teamed up to bring Kansas students a hands-on competition that makes sustainability fun. Green Teams, classrooms, and clubs work together to complete waste-reduction challenges, earning points for both their classroom and their school along the way.

Challenges include projects that teach others about recycling, composting, and other ways to reduce waste in Kansas, as well as data collection activities and more.

Every educator and student who joins the challenge also gains access to the Kansas Green Schools Waste and Recycling Investigation. This program gives students the chance to collect real-world data about their own school and use it to develop a waste action plan. It also includes extra resources and practical tips for cutting waste on campus. Plus, any school that reaches over 200 points by February 14th will be recognized on the Kansas Green Schools website and will receive a celebration certificate to honor their efforts.

Yes! Schools that complete the Investigation can earn Level 1 recognition as a Kansas Green School of Excellence, a distinction that showcases your students' hard work and your school's commitment to sustainability.

Schools can compete by having at least one green team/classroom completing the challenges for your grade band. The top four schools with the highest number of points on February 14, 2027 will win a cash prize for their school to be used to support your waste learning experiences.

To sign up a green team/classroom at your school, the teacher will need to create a login on the website and enter the challenges and proof for each completion.

Yes! Your school can have as many green teams/classrooms participating as you like. However, the first classroom who completes each challenge will officially add to the school's total points. Through the dashboard, you will be able to see both the total number of challenges your green team/classroom has accumulated as well as the total points for your school.

Yes, and the points will add into your team's progress, but the challenge will only be counted once toward your school's total points.

Cash prizes — a $1,000 grand prize, $750 for second place, $500 for third place, and $250 for fourth place — are limited to one per school each year.

Two Judges' Favorite awards ($250 each) go to the teams KDHE judges pick as their favorites, based on creativity rather than point totals. Any team can win a Judges' Favorite award, including a second team from a school that already has a cash-prize winner or a school who has already won an initial cash prize.

Each green team/classroom/club completes challenges and submits proof of completion through the KICK website to earn their team and their school points.

The four schools with the highest points by February 14, 2027 will earn cash prizes for their schools. In addition, two judges' choice awards will be made for challenge completions that are unique, creative and/or impactful.

If there's a tie, we'll do a randomized drawing to break it. The school that isn't selected in the drawing will get the next available prize, as long as one exists. For example, if we only have prizes for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place and two schools tie for 4th, the school drawn first gets 4th place and the other school would not receive a prize in that case since there is no 5th place prize.