The contest is open to all 6th, 7th, & 8th grade students. Participants must write their essay themselves, but they may get help from teachers, parents, or friends in the form of ideas.
Length: No longer than 250 words.
Paper size: 8½ × 11 inch.
Text: Typed, computer generated text, hand written or hand printed.
Judging will be based on the following:
Closeness to the theme
Neatness
Originality
Correct grammatical structure
Each entry must have the following information on the back of the essay:
Student’s full name
School, location, grade
Elks lodge name
Must also be accompanied by Hold Harmless agreement
Due date:January 31, 2026
Winners: Your local Elks lodge will select the top essays, using the criteria listed above. The lodge will notify winners. Winning essays will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to State Level Competition. All winning entries become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and may not be returned.
National recognition: Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner. This winning essay will be submitted for entry into the National contest and may be featured on the www.elkskidszone.org website and/or in ENF or DAP publications.
The contest is open to all 3rd, 4th, & 5th grade students.
Poster paper: Ideally, posters should be submitted on 8½ x 11 inch paper. However, posters submitted on paper up to 11x24 inches in size will be accepted. Please contact your lodge for additional information, as some areas might have additional criteria.
Judging will be based on the following:
Closeness to the theme
Neatness
Originality
Correct grammatical structure
Each entry must have the following information on the back of the poster:
Student’s full name
School, location, grade
Elks lodge name
Must also be accompanied by Hold Harmless agreement
Copyrighted characters are prohibited. Entries containing copyrighted material will be disqualified.
Due date:January 31, 2026
Winners: Each lodge will select a winner, using the criteria listed above. The lodge will notify winners. Winning posters will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to State Level Competition. All winning entries become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and may not be returned.
National recognition: Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner. This winning poster will be submitted for entry into the annual National Elks contest and for inclusion in the Elks DAP Coloring Book. Winning Posters may also be featured on the www.elkskidszone.org website - online coloring book and/or in ENF or DAP publications.
The contest is open to two age groups: Pre-High School and High School
Participants: May be an individual or group
Length: 2 to 5 minutes in length
Format: Flash Drive or similar "mobile" media in readable format
Judging will be based on the following:
Closeness to the theme
Neatness
Originality
Age and Language appropriate
Positive message
Quality of video
Each entry must include the following information:
Student or Group’s full name
School, location, grade
Elks lodge name
Must also be accompanied by Hold Harmless agreement
If minors an additional release form is required
Due date:January 31, 2026
Winners: Your local Elks lodge will select the top videos, using the criteria listed above. The lodge will notify winners. Winning videos will be forwarded to District Competition. District winners will be forwarded to State Level Competition. All winning entries become the sole property of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, and may not be returned.
National recognition: Each State Drug Awareness Chairman will choose one overall winner. This winning video will be submitted for entry into the National contest and may be featured on the www.elkskidszone.org website and/or in ENF or DAP publications
