5 Essay Contest Winners to Visit Seattle Saturday

Because they write well and love a certain airport, five Burbank area high school students, winners of an essay contest, will be flying to Seattle Saturday morning.

“The really gratifying thing to me was the mix of essays,” said Linda Walmsley, a kindergarten and first-grade teacher at Miller Elementary School who came up with the idea for the essay contest last year.

Last year the contest, sponsored by the Friends of the Burbank Airport, sent five 9-year-olds on a day trip to Oakland. This year, five high school seniors--one earning a pilot’s license--will spend a weekend in Seattle.

“We’re trying to get kids excited about careers in aviation and give them a chance to have a great adventure,” said Elly Mixsell, manager of community relations at the Burbank Airport. “Hopefully, we’ll make a difference in their lives, even if they do not go into aviation.”

About 50 high school seniors from Burbank, Glendale and Pasadena schools entered in contest in September. The winners read their one-page essays--250 to 300 words--at an airport authority meeting in December.

The essays were on topics such as the economic impact, history and personal reflections on the Burbank airport. Samantha Foster, a Burbank High School senior working on her pilot’s license, described her flying experiences. Brian Hooper of Pasadena, a John Muir High School senior, detailed the airport’s economic impact on the community.

The other winners are Christopher Michel, Dean Wangerin and Shannon Wasley, all Burbank High School seniors.

The winners will fly to Seattle where they will tour an Alaskan Airlines flight simulator and visit the Space Needle and the Museum of Flight in Seattle.