AAA Chicago to Award High School Students Thousands of Dollars in College Scholarships Through Travel Challenge

AURORA, Ill., Jan. 9, 2004 -- When you greet someone in Bangkok, should you give him a hug? If you're visiting Old Sturbridge Village, what state are you in? What city do you fly into for a vacation in Tahiti? If teenagers in your family can answer questions like these, they may be well on their way to an expense-paid trip to Orlando to compete for a $25,000 college scholarship.

The trip and scholarship are part of the AAA Travel High School Challenge, a contest designed to heighten travel knowledge and geographic literacy, while creating awareness of career opportunities in the travel and tourism industry.

The national contest is open to all U.S. students in grades 9-12, with winners from all 50 states and Washington, D.C. traveling to Universal Orlando in April 2004 to compete for scholarships totaling $156,000.

"The AAA Travel High School Challenge is more than just a geography contest-it tests students' travel literacy by focusing on travel and tourism destinations," said Alexandra Petropoulos, AAA Chicago's Director of Travel. "AAA Chicago depends on travel-savvy employees to serve our members; the Travel Challenge encourages youngsters to study travel geography and to consider careers in travel and tourism."

The contest is open to high school students (public, private or home schooled) in grades 9-12 and begins with a 40-question online quiz available from January 12-21 at www.aaa.com/TravelChallenge . The top five scorers in each state will take a proctored, written exam in early March. The top scorer in each state wins a $1,000 scholarship and an expense-paid trip for two to compete for one of three first-place $25,000 scholarships in the national finals, which will be held April 24-27 at Universal Orlando.

Interested students can sign up for the contest any time between now and January 21. As an added incentive, all students who register for the contest prior to December 31 and go on to complete the quiz will be entered into a random drawing for a $1,000 U.S. savings bond.

The inaugural contest drew around 8,000 high school-age participants earlier this year.

Scholarship prizes are provided by the Hogan Family Foundation, a Newbury Park, Calif., non-profit organization that promotes a greater understanding of the importance of travel and tourism.

Corporate sponsors for the contest are Continental Airlines, Holland America Line, Marriott, MBNA America, Pleasant Holidays and Universal Orlando.

AAA Chicago offers automotive, travel, insurance and financial services. It is part of The Auto Club Group (ACG), the largest affiliation of AAA clubs in the Midwest, with 4.1 million members in eight states. ACG clubs belong to the national AAA federation, a not-for-profit organization, with more than 46 million members in the United States and Canada.