Celebrating Youth Voices: Winners of the 2026 Environmental Photo Contest

This year, Tri-Valley CAREs had the privilege of hosting our first ever Youth Environmental Photo Contest! We invited young people ages 10-25 to share how they see and experience the environment and environmental justice issues in their communities.

Our team of judges were truly blown away by the submissions. Each photograph offered a unique perspective: some captured the beauty of the natural world, others highlighted pollution, climate impacts, or inequities that often go unseen. Together, they tell a powerful story about how young people are thinking about the environment today.

After careful review by our judges, we are excited to announce the winners of this year’s contest:

🏆 First Place ($750): Jacob Dartez – Deep Blue

🥈 Runner-Up ($250): Willow Yundt – Life Behind the Gates

🌟 Community Award for Tracy & West San Joaquin County ($500): Ellie Creighton – Inconvenient Placement

We also want to recognize all of our participants. It takes creativity, thoughtfulness, and courage to share your perspective, and every submission contributed meaningfully to this project. All participants will receive a certificate in recognition of their work and an 11×14  print of their work on canvas.

Join Us for the Exhibit & Award Ceremony!

To celebrate these incredible young artists (and Earth Day), we invite you to join us for a community exhibition and award ceremony:

Venue: Tracy Library, Wadsworth Room, 20 E. Eaton Ave, Tracy

Date: April 21, 2026

Time: 5:30 – 6:30 PM

During the event, all submitted photographs will be on display, and we will celebrate the winners and present awards and certificates. We’ll also have food and time to connect with others in the community.

If you’re not able to attend that evening, the exhibit will remain on display at the Tracy Library Display case throughout the month of April.

This exhibit is part of our broader work in Tracy and West San Joaquin County to support community awareness and engagement around environmental issues. We hope you’ll join us in celebrating this work.

This project was partially funded by CalEPA.

Tanvi Shah

The cherry blossom trees on the Arroyo Mocho trail are a bewildering sight to see. Passing through the trees while the petals are falling makes you feel the presence of the trees. In other words, cherry blossom trees have a great effect on your mental health. That is if your perception of the tree is something that makes you happy. This has to do with the relationship between people and the environment. I believe that this relationship is symbiotic where if you have good thoughts about the tree it will do good for you. Different people can have different feelings about the tree. For example, the pink color on the petals can be viewed differently. The pink color can have both positive and negative effects on your mind. The positive effect is that the tree is a symbol of kindness to different viewpoints. The negative effect is that people can have a difference of opinion on the way they perceive cherry blossom trees. This makes the tree sad and the society's view of the cherry blossom is destroyed. It is as if toxic poison has entered the tree spreading through its branches leaving people in disbelief. They yearn to have what was lost, but realize that the tree will never be the same as it is hurt. All that is left is the tree itself knowing what it was meant to be in solitude without the noise of people.

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