40 High Schoolers Win New Laptops as Part of MTS & Coca-Cola Essay Contest

San Diego – The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) recognized the 40 winners of the annual MTS and Coca-Cola Laptop Scholarship Contest in a ceremony at the 12th & Imperial Transit Center on Friday, May 10. MTS had students from 70 different high schools enter the contest.

The top 40 scoring students came from 27 different campuses and were awarded a 15.6” HP Touch-Screen laptop and a North Face laptop backpack.  Students in grades 9-12 were required to submit an essay about lowering the cost of student transit passes and how this can help increase ridership. MTS also asked students to provide strategies for how MTS can encourage more students to ride.

“It was great that winners came from so many campuses. Their essays presented convincing ideas. Students were required to think critically about the way public transit shapes our communities,” said Paul Jablonski, MTS chief executive officer. “We appreciate the partnership with Coca-Cola and the San Diego County Office of Education in making this contest a success. It’s a great learning experience for the students.”

The laptop scholarship contest is a long-standing event partnership between MTS, Coca-Cola Refreshments of San Diego and the San Diego County Office of Education. To be eligible to win, students had to be San Diego County residents and enrolled in a San Diego County high school.

Winners of the 2019 MTS & Coca-Cola Laptop Scholarship Contest are:                 

MTS operates 95 bus routes and three Trolley lines on 53 miles of double-tracked railway. Every weekday more than 300,000 passenger trips are taken on MTS bus and Trolley services in 10 cities and the county. In FY 2018, MTS served more than 86 million riders.

Photo (from L to R): Paul Jablonski, MTS Chief Executive Officer; Cory Holstein, Coca-Cola Refreshments; winning students; Music Watson, San Diego County Office of Education; and Georgette Gómez, MTS Board Chair and San Diego City Council President

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