SIMI VALLEY : 6 Students Win Trip to Hong Kong

Six students from Valley View Junior High School in Simi Valley won an all-expense-paid trip to Hong Kong after demonstrating their knowledge of culture, history and current events in the Pacific Rim.

More than 7,000 ninth- and tenth-grade students from Southern California, including the Simi Valley students, had entered the Ambassadors to Asia competition, sponsored by Cathay Pacific Airways and the Los Angeles Times in Education Program.

The competition was intended to provide a cultural bridge between Hong Kong and Southern California.

To qualify for the finals, the Simi Valley students earlier this year completed a four-page essay on Hong Kong to finish among the top 10 schools and qualify for the final round of oral competition Thursday.

Students were asked questions about the economy, geography and culture of Hong Kong and Asia.

Valley View, the only Ventura County school to compete, placed third. University High School in Irvine finished first and San Gorgonio High School placed second.

The students “are on cloud nine,” said Bill Davenport, a world history teacher who helped coach the team. In preparation for the contest, the students studied after school and on weekends. The students’ work included library research and studying news reports about the Pacific Rim.

The six students on the Valley View team are Angeline Koo, Manjo Mate, Derek Welsbie, Jennifer Albright, Jason Lukaszewicz and Julie Redman. Davenport and world history teacher Janet Kaufman of Valley View coached the students. One of them will accompany the students to Hong Kong, said Claire Schofield, a spokeswoman for Cathay Pacific Airways.

Twenty-seven students from the top five schools won free transportation, hotel, meal and sightseeing expenses to Hong Kong.

The students and their sponsoring teachers are scheduled to depart for the weeklong educational and sightseeing trip on July 1. Each student will receive 600 Hong Kong dollars, or about $75, for spending money.