Also posted on Pajamas Media.Last week I reported on the contest being sponsored by the North Dakota National Guard which is offering high school students 540 all-expenses paid trips to the Peace Garden State.
So far, fewer than thirty kids have answered the call, and the deadline for entering is February 28. The North Dakota National Guard is offering 10 students from each state and four US territories the opportunity to come to the state in honor of the 200th anniversary of Lewis & Clark's return trip through there.
As I noted last week, I've been to North Dakota and it's worth visiting.
One of the organizers of the contest is astonished by the lack of interest in the prize, as noted in Ryan Bakken's column in Wednesday's Grand Forks Herald:
"The thought was that it would be a neat opportunity to showcase North Dakota," said Shelle Michaels of Grand Forks, a local all-around go-getter and volunteer helper for the children of the deployed 188th Air Defense Artillery.
Michaels was beating the publicity bushes, trying to stir up interest in the contest. She was baffled by the apathy among our youth.
North Dakotan Bakken, however, is cynical:
What Shelle isn't considering is the teenage mind. Would 10 teenagers from Hawaii leave the beach for western North Dakota? Would 10 teenagers from Colorado leave the mountains for North Dakota? Would 10 teenagers go anywhere where their cell phones might not work?
I think not.
The contest is open to high school students who will be juniors or seniors in the upcoming school year. For more information, click here.
Technorati tags: North Dakota Contests Travel Lewis & Clark
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