High School Students Can Earn Scholarships and Prizes in AAA's Geography Contest

ST. LOUIS, Dec. 28, 2006 -- If you are driving due west from Dodge City, which state will you first come to? In what state is the world-famous Waimea Canyon? What is the Loire Valley famous for?

Answers to questions like these could earn area high school students a chance for a $20,000 college scholarship in the fifth annual AAA Travel High School Challenge.

Teenagers around the country are getting ready to flex their travel and geography muscles to answer such questions, and those with the most correct answers may be well on their way to an expense-paid trip to Orlando to compete for more than $100,000 in college scholarships and prizes.

The contest aims to increase teens' travel knowledge and geography literacy while creating awareness of career opportunities in the travel and tourism industry.

The national contest is open to all U.S. students at least 13 years of age in grades 9-12 (public, private and home-schooled), with winners from all 50 states traveling to Universal Studio in Orlando, Fla. to compete for scholarships and prizes.

The contest begins with registration prior to Jan. 8 then with a 40- question online quiz available from January 8-16, 2007 at http://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 an expense-paid trip for two to complete in the national finals, May 19- 22 at Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla.

Interested students can sign up for the contest any time prior to January 8. Nationwide, more than 70,000 students are expected to participate. Corporate sponsors of the contest are Universal Orlando, Pleasant Holidays, Marriott, Continental Airlines, Bank of America and Hard Rock Live.

As North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides more than 50 million members with travel, insurance, financial and automotive services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.