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

Winners represent 25 high schools across San Diego County

Winners reactions and virtual ceremony video

San Diego –  The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) announced and celebrated the 40 winners of the 20th annual MTS and Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling Laptop Scholarship Essay Contest, which awards top-scoring students with brand new laptop computers. The winning students came from 25 high schools from across San Diego County, and were awarded a Dell – Inspiron Touch Laptop and a carry-on laptop backpack, a prize value of $800.

“In the past few years, technology has become a crucial part of learning in every student’s life, and having a reliable computer can make a huge difference in academic performance,” said Nathan Fletcher, MTS Board Chair and San Diego County Board Supervisor. “We love to get young people thinking critically about public transit, and I am proud of the work these students put into these essays. We are grateful to Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling for sponsoring this contest and the great partnership with San Diego County Office of Education for making it a success.”

For the 2022 Laptop Scholarship Essay Contest, students in grades 9-12 were asked to write a persuasive essay on the value of the SANDAG Youth Opportunity Pass (YOP) pilot program, and why it should or should not continue. Since May 2022, all youth 18 and under have had access to free transit across the county through the YOP pilot program. As part of the essays, students were also able to give feedback about the program and suggestions to further expand the opportunities it provides.

“Young people are powerful agents of change and it’s admirable that MTS worked to incorporate their feedback into the YOP process,” said Dr. Paul Gothold, San Diego County Superintendent of Schools. “I am proud of the students who participated in the laptop scholarship essay contest and thankful to MTS and the Reyes Coca Cola Bottling Company for their continued support.”

“We are proud to be part of the San Diego community and are honored to support local students through this program,” said Steve Raubolt, San Diego Market Unit President, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling. “We wish these students the best of luck in their future and hope they continue to thrive in their education.”

The Laptop Scholarship Essay Contest is a long-standing event partnership between MTS, Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling Company and the San Diego County Office of Education. To be eligible to win, students had to be enrolled in a San Diego County high school.

For more information about the Laptop Scholarship visit our website

Winners of the 2022 MTS & Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling Laptop Scholarship Essay Contest are:

Name 

Last Name 

Grade 

High School 

Lanae

Alameida

11

High Virtual Academy

Madison

Amezcua-Cruz

10

Grossmont Secondary School

Ishmael

Melendez-Covarrubias

12

San Diego High School

Athena 

Ballensky

12

San Dieguito Academy

Valens 

Bandy

12

Sage Creek High School

Sanjay 

Bharadwaj

11

Del Norte High School

Delanny 

Cardenas 

9

La Costa Canyon High School

Daniel 

Cho

9

Canyon Crest Academy 

Bushra 

Coban

11

San Dieguito High School Academy

Ciara 

Day

12

San Diego High School

Eloisa 

De La Rosa 

12

San Diego High School

Nina 

Dutton 

9

Del Lago Academy 

Javier 

Garcia

11

Carlsbad Highschool

Micaela 

Groke

11

La Costa Canyon High School

Luckjoyson 

Hong

12

Scripps Ranch High School

Mary 

Huynh

9

East Village Middle College High School

Helena 

Jiang

10

Canyon Crest Academy 

Shabnam 

Kakar

11

West Hills High School

Ashley 

Knowlton

11

San Marcos High School

Fatima 

Lopez Retana

11

Fallbrook Union High School

Alexandra 

Mapilisan

11

Morse High School

Itzel 

Martinez

12

High Tech High Chula Vista

Mukund 

Mathur

9

La Costa Canyon High School

Lucia 

Mochel

10

Fallbrook Union High School

Hector 

Moreno 

11

Hoover High School 

Maya

Murchison

11

Eastlake High School

Justin 

Ordonez

12

Kearny High Educational Complex

Diego 

Paz

12

Montgomery High School

Paulo 

Rivera

11

Eastlake High School

Vijay 

Roy

10

La Jolla High School

Isabella

Schott

9

SD MET High School

Wyatt 

Spencer

9

San Diego High School 

Lauren 

Suh

10

Torrey Pines High School 

Litong 

Tian 

10

Canyon Crest Academy 

Cash 

Tieman 

10

San Dieguito Academy

Nirja

Trivedi

11

Westview High School 

Violet 

Uribe

11

Montgomery High School

Leonel 

Villanueva

10

Eastlake High School

Grace 

Wheeler

12

San Dieguito Academy

Laurence 

Yu

11

Pacific Ridge School

About MTS

The Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) operates more than 100 bus routes and three Trolley lines in 10 cities and unincorporated areas of San Diego. MTS is a leader in advancing initiatives to create a greener, cleaner and better-connected transit system in San Diego. Each weekday more than 220,000 passenger trips are taken throughout the MTS system taking people to work, school, health appointments and other essential trips. In FY 2022, MTS served more than 57 million riders. For service schedule updates, news, alerts and more information on how you can use public transportation, go to www.sdmts.com

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