*The deadline to submit an entry is 11:59PM March 20, 2026. Read all rules and regulations before submitting an entry. Please continue to follow TFND social media for more updates.*

Tobacco Free North Dakota announces the return of our annual Video Essay Scholarship Contest for all North Dakota high school seniors. TFND is a statewide nonprofit that advocates for policies to prevent youth initiation to tobacco and nicotine products with the goal of creating North Dakota’s first tobacco free generation. We hope this scholarship contest encourages youth to youth education and advocacy, while providing TFND an opportunity to recognize and reward those efforts. Here’s how it works!

1. Create a 1–3 minute YouTube video based on one of these Tobacco Free ND
topics.

• The tobacco industry wants to bring smoking back into public places. Interview your family, friends, and community members about what it was like when there was smoking in places like restaurants, offices, and even the legislature.

• New tobacco products are always being developed to hook new generations of consumers. Create a public health campaign/strategy to prevent another generation from becoming tobacco users. This can be a mix of laws you would enact, public awareness campaigns, etc.

• You get to make the laws for a day- what laws do you make relating to tobacco products?

• Tobacco products are a leading cause of pollution worldwide- show us how tobacco pollution affects your community and what can be done to stop it.

• Tobacco companies spend millions of dollars every year marketing their products to
the next generation of potential customers- Youth. How would you convince young people to stay tobacco/nicotine free?

2. Email your video entry, along with all completed 2026-Video-Essay-Scholarship-Packet forms attached, by 11:59pm March 20, 2026 to andrew@tfnd.org.

3. YOU MUST SUBMIT THE VIDEO FILE, NOT YOUTUBE LINK! A committee will select the top video. Here are some examples of past submissions

You don’t need fancy cameras to make great videos. Read our 2026-Video-Essay-Scholarship-Packet for great tips on how make a make a winning video!