Thursday,
November 21, 2002
DOT
104-02
Contact:
Ben Langer
Telephone:
202-366-5580
U.S.
Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta today called on students from
throughout the country to put their creativity to work and submit essays to a
contest sponsored by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Garrett A. Morgan
Technology and Transportation Futures Program.
“Sometimes
we don’t realize how important and interesting a subject is until we do a
little research and organize our thoughts about it,” Secretary Mineta said.
“That’s what this essay contest is intended to accomplish.
We want the best and brightest students from all over America to think
about the important role transportation plays in our lives and to consider
becoming transportation workers, managers and engineers.”
The
overall theme of the contest is "Society, Technology, and the Future of
Transportation." It is open to
students throughout the United States in the hope of generating interest in
transportation matters and awareness of transportation’s needs for the future.
There are categories for four age groups:
Students
in grades 1 and 2 should focus on the Need for Transportation;
Students
in grades 3 through 5 should focus on the Future of Transportation;
Students
in grades 6 through 8 should focus on the Transportation Environment and
Energy Concerns; and
Students
in grades 9 through 12 should focus on Transportation Technology and
Societal Changes.
All
essays should address the future of transportation and its importance in
society. Illustrations, such as
art, photography, charts, tables and other graphics, are encouraged. A panel of experts in transportation and education will judge
the contest.
Contest
information, rules, suggested essay lengths, and instructions for submitting
entries are on the Internet at http://education.dot.gov.
The deadline for all submissions is March 15, 2003.
Essays may be submitted electronically or by fax to 202-493-2288.
The
Garrett A. Morgan Technology and Transportation Futures Program commemorates
Garrett A. Morgan, a son of slaves and an African American who invented the
traffic signal and gas mask. The
program’s goals are to build a bridge between American’s youth and the
transportation community, support the deployment of improved educational
technology that provides better ways for people to acquire new skills, and
ensure that America’s transportation workforce for the 21st century is
technologically literate and internationally competitive.
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