Ridgewood Savings Bank Opens Teen Video Contest on Money

Ridgewood Savings Bank is asking New York teenagers to explain financial responsibility in 30 seconds or less, and it is offering a laptop and school grants to the best answers.

According to Bushwick Daily, which reported on the contest, the bank is accepting short video submissions from teens through December 1. The theme is financial responsibility, and the format is tight: half a minute to make a point about money. The summary of the announcement says prizes are local, and it names two of them: a MacBook Air and school grants of up to $1,000.

The constraint is the appeal. Thirty seconds is about the length of a social video or a subway ad, which means entrants will have to land an idea about saving, budgeting or spending wisely quickly, without much room for filler. For a generation that has grown up watching personal finance advice in short clips, the format is a natural fit.

The contest runs for roughly five weeks from today, Sunday, October 25, 2026, giving students a window that stretches across the heart of the fall semester and ends before the winter break. A teen who starts this week would have time to script, shoot and edit before the December 1 deadline.

The Bushwick Daily item is narrow in what it establishes. It identifies the sponsor, the theme, the length limit, the closing date and the headline prizes. The text provided for this article does not spell out who is eligible, how entries are submitted, how winners will be chosen or how many prizes will be awarded, so those details should be confirmed directly with Ridgewood Savings Bank before a student begins work. Readers interested in entering should check the bank’s own channels or the original Bushwick Daily report for the full rules.

Ridgewood Savings Bank has long been a fixture in the neighborhoods it is named for, and a contest like this is a way of speaking to the next generation of customers in their own medium. Whether or not a teenager takes home the laptop, the assignment itself is useful: explaining a money habit clearly to a stranger in 30 seconds is a better test of understanding than most worksheets.

For parents, teachers and guidance counselors, the contest offers a ready-made classroom or kitchen-table project. For students, the deadline is the one date to circle: December 1.