First, Lindsay Stewart, a student from Sonoma Valley High School read her untitled essay about her love of travel. Starting in Ecuador, then Mexico, Lindsay saved her highest acclaim for the wonders of her home town. From the mountains to creeks, forests to vineyards, friendly sidestreets to the Sonoma Square, Lindsay truly loves Sonoma, and described it beautifully.

Then Caity Trembley, also from Sonoma Valley High School, read her evocative travel essay titled, “Through the Crowded Streets of New York City.” Her story concerned a visit to Ground Zero in New York. Poignant, detailed and at times funny, her work brought the World Trade Center and its haunting, historic conclusion back to life. Caity spoke with eloquence and passion, and no doubt has a promising career as a writer.

BATW member Sandy Sims came on to read the winning essay, written by Naomi Neal, a student at the School of the Arts in San Francisco. Unfortunately Naomi was unable to attend our event, because she was in Chicago competing for a full scholarship to prestigious Shimer College. Her powerful essay, “Cadillac Ranch,” set outside of Amarillo, Texas not only captured the spirit of the American West, but made readers consider the vanishing idea of the “Road Trip,” as well as humankind’s tenuous idea of freedom. Well done, Naomi – this is a great story.

Finally, BATW member Arvis Northrop read an essay from Rebecca Hu, a student at San Mateo’s Aragon High School. Hu’s essay, “The Road to Heaven,” captured the sheer joy and optimism of someday visiting “Heaven,” or in Rebecca’s case, Tibet. Her giddy hopefulness, describing her father’s recollections was fun and infectious.

BATW members, student winners, parents, friends and a few onlookers enjoyed the readings in a wonderful setting. I would personally like to thank Marian Sanders and Ellen Sarbone for again volunteering their time as excellent High School Travel Writing Contest judges. I’d also like to thank Books, Inc., for providing our organization with an inspirational place to hold this event. Lastly, I appreciate all the help from many Active and Associate BATW members, media contacts, school administrators, teachers, librarians, parents and others who helped spread the word about this contest.

– Bob Ecker

BATW High School Travel Writing Contest Coordinator

The winners of the 2008 BATW High School Travel Writing Contest are:

1st Place: Naomi Neal, School of the Arts, San Francisco
Essay: “Cadillac Ranch”

2nd Place: Lindsay Stewart, Sonoma Valley High School, Sonoma
Essay: no title (Sonoma)

3rd Place: Rebecca Hu, Aragon High School, San Mateo
Essay: “The Road to Heaven”

Honorable Mention -  Caity Tremblay, SonomaValley High School, Sonoma
Essay: “Through the Crowded Streets of New York City”

Updated Program for February 21 BATW Meeting:
High School Contest Winners
Plus
Travel Writer Brad Newsham

Sat Feb 21, 2009 10:00 AM-12:30

at Books Inc. in Opera Plaza,

601 Van Ness between Turk St. and Golden Gate Ave. in San Francisco

In addition to our meeting the BATW High School Writing Contest Award winners, Brad Newsham, well known and beloved Bay Area travel writer and BATW member, will be our guest speaker.

This is the fourth year BATW will honor exceptional high school travel writers. Many of you will recall the outstanding stories of last year’s recipients, stories that opened up thoughtful discussion about cultural and personal experiences during our meeting. You will be wowed again as this year’s winners read their entries. Coordinator Bob Ecker will introduce the winners.

Brad Newsham, our guest speaker, is the author of two round-the-world travel memoirs, All the Right Places (1989) and Take Me With You (2000). Between 2002 and 2005, the local and national travel communities were abuzz with talk of Brad’s “Backpack Nation” project, which was designed “To transform the West’s 2-3 million independent travelers into an army of global ambassadors, emissaries of peace, a roving force for good.” Brad does not fit into a conventional writer’s “box”—for 23 years he has piloted a taxicab up and down the hills of San Francisco (his longest, most famous fare, took him from the Golden Gate Bridge to the White House in the summer of 2001, and racked up $20,644.90 on the meter). Starting in January 2007, and continuing until the inauguration of Barack Obama, Brad organized the notorious “Beach Impeach” events, which attracted thousands of Impeach-Bush activists to Ocean Beach—John Montgomery’s breath-taking aerial photographs of these events (taken while John leaned out of a helicopter) went round the world. Brad will read a bit from his writings, talk a bit about his life, and go wherever the sure-to-be-lively discussion leads.

Books Inc., one of our few remaining independent bookstores, will host our awards at their store at Opera Plaza in San Francisco.

Adjoining Books Inc. is a Peet’s Coffee, where you can buy coffee and tea and bring them into the meeting. We’ll have munchies there for the meeting.

If you would like to have Books Inc. procure your books to sell at the meeting, contact Sandy Sims at sansims@aol.com.

Agenda:

10-10:30 Social time, coffee/tea/snacks

10:30-10:45 Business meeting

10:45-11:30 High School Contest Awards and Readings

11:30- 12:30 approx. Brad Newsham on how his mission—To inspire others, through writing, to experience the magic of global travel—informs his life.

Guests and prospective members are welcome.

Location: Books Inc. Opera Plaza., 601 Van Ness, between Turk Street and Golden Gate Avenue in San Francisco (phone: 415.776.1111).

Parking: Parking under the plaza is expensive. Parking two blocks away at the Civic Center Garage is more reasonable, and there is metered street parking on some of the side streets nearby. There is free parking 2-3 blocks west of Van Ness.

If you are interested in staying on for lunch, Max’s as well as a deli are in the Opera Plaza complex

Please RSVP by February 17, USING OUR NEW, ONLINE RSVP SYSTEM (not the Hotline). Just go to www.BATW.org, log on, click on EVENT LIST in the left-hand column, then click on the February 21st event. Finally, scroll to the bottom of the page and click where it says Register for this event: “Feb 2009 RSVP.”

All Bay Area High School students were eligible to enter contest by submitting a 500 word travel essay.  Essays were evaluated by professional travel writers.

3 Prizes will be awarded:

$ 200.00 First Prize    + Official Awards Certificate
$ 100.00 Second Prize   + Official Awards Certificate
$  50.00 Third Prize    + Official Awards Certificate

+ 4 Honorable Mention Certificates

FIRST PLACE: Madeline Morris: “The Achuar and Me”
Bentley School, Lafayette

SECOND PLACE: Aadrita Mukerji: “Transportation”
Saratoga High School, Saratoga

THIRD PLACE: Michelle Norma Stone: “Unsung Oklahoma, O.K.!”
Ursuline High School, Santa Rosa

Honorable Mention: Cyrus Borhami: untitled
Miramonte High School, Orinda

Honorable Mention: Ian Davison: “Molokai: Isle of Serenity”
Cardinal Newman High School, Santa Rosa

Honorable Mention: Jasmine A. Morgan: “Just Like I Did”
Redwood High School, Larkspur

Honorable Mention: Tara Torpey: “The Castle Told Me”
Dublin High School, Dublin

- – -
Media contact: Bob Ecker, BATW Contest Coordinator (707) 421-1701, eckerbob@mindspring.com

San Francisco: September 13, 2007. The Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW), a twenty-year-old professional organization of travel writers and photographers, announces its third annual travel writing contest for all Bay Area high school students. No entry fee is required.

Students wishing to enter should submit a 500-word essay concerning a travel destination, experience or activity. Travel essays deal with the idea and experience of travel – whether the writer has traveled to the other side of the world, down the block or anywhere in between.

All essays will be evaluated by BATW judges (professional travel writers). Essays will be judged on accuracy, originality, creativity, proper use of language, syntax and grammar, and humor.

3 Prizes will be awarded:

$200.00 First Prize + Official Awards Certificate
$100.00 Second Prize + Official Awards Certificate
$50.00 Third Prize + Official Awards Certificate

Honorable Mentions will also be awarded

Rules of Entry:

• One entry per person.
• Essays must be 500 words (or less) in length. Entries exceeding the 500 word limit will be disqualified.
• Stories must be double-spaced, with the author’s full name, address, telephone number and email address at the top of the page. Also include your school’s name, location and the name of your English/Journalism teacher.
• Please include an affidavit at the end of the story attesting that the work has been created solely by the entrant.
• Entries will be accepted by e-mail only, beginning October 1, 2007. All entries must be e-mailed by October 31, 2007 to: contest@batw.org

All Bay Area high school students are eligible to participate, including those attending public, private and/or parochial high schools. Home schooled high school age students are also welcome to submit. The “Bay Area” refers to the counties of: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano and Sonoma.

Contest winners will be notified by telephone no later than December 15, 2007. Contest winners will be invited to receive their awards, and to read their essays in person, at a future BATW monthly meeting. Winning entries will also be posted on the BATW Website.

The Bay Area Travel Writers (BATW), based in San Francisco, is a non-profit, professional organization of travel writers, editors and photographers with outstanding achievements in travel journalism. These professionals share their unique stories in newspapers, magazines, books, websites and other worldwide travel publications.

For further information contact:
Bob Ecker, BATW High School Contest Coordinator, at (707) 421-1701 eckerbob@mindspring.com

• 1st Place Winner: Nicholas Teddy, Montgomery High School, Santa Rosa
  Story: In Tokyo
• 2nd Place Winner: Matt Seneca, Berkeley High School Independent Study, Berkeley. Story: London (Under The Ground) 6215
• 3rd Place Winner: Milena Schaller, Berkeley High School Independent Study, Berkeley. Story: Les Escargots

Honorable Mentions:
(in alphabetical order)

• Howie Bruno, Hillsdale High School, San Mateo
  Story: Costa Rica Story
• Charlotte Hill, Northgate High School, Walnut Creek
  Story: Ireland
• Adrian Kane, San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco
  Story: An Inn With Sebastian
• Patrick Mason, Hillsdale High School, San Mateo
  Story: Road Tripping With Dad
• Joe Shemuel, Berkeley High School, Berkeley
  Story: Scossa e Riverenza

Congratulations to all winners, and to every student who submitted essays.
Bob Ecker, Past President

This contest was held from October 1 – October 31, 2006.