Judges for I Love Costa Rica’s Rainforest! Contest

I Love Costa Rica Contest Judges

Dave Fox

Dave is an award-winning freelance travel and humor writer. He got his start in travel journaling at age seven when his family moved to England for a year, and has since traveled in more than 40 countries on five continents. As an adult, Dave has published two books: Globejotting: How to Write Extraordinary Travel Journals (and still have time to enjoy your trip!) and Getting Lost: Mishaps of an Accidental Nomad. He teaches travel writing classes and seminars and will soon be offering travel writing tours in Africa and Asia. He is also a veteran European tour guide for PBS television host Rick Steves, and a guide for the Seattle Underground Tour.

For more information about Dave’s books, classes, and tours, or to subscribe to his free e-mail list, please visit www.davethefox.com. Free excerpts from his travel journaling book are available at www.globejotting.com. Also check out Dave’s travel journaling website: www.traveljournaling.com.

Ronna Mandel

Ronna Mandel, Associate Editor at L.A. Parent, originally hails from Long Island, NY and currently lives in the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles. A mom of an 8 year-old son and 15 year-old daughter, Ronna is well-versed in all things art and travel related having lived overseas for 10 years with her family from 1996-2006.  Bitten by the travel bug all the way back in the 60s by her parents’ “If It’s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium” type package tours to Europe coupled with a love of the film Gidget Goes To Rome, Ronna eventually studied abroad in Paris, France and London, England as a college student.  In addition to having lived in Frankfurt, Germany and London, England with her husband Dan and two children, Ronna, who speaks German and French, worked for many years as Director of Sales for General Tours and then Olson Travelworld.  At these companies, Ronna promoted travel to Russia, Eastern Europe, India, Africa and beyond.  In that capacity Ronna traveled to the ASTA World Congress in Hamburg with industry giant and pioneer Alexander W. Harris to speak about travel to the former Soviet Union.  Ronna has given hundreds of seminars nationwide to travel agents in her positions at both General Tours and Olson Travelworld before taking time off to start  a family and move abroad.  Her book blog, Good Reads With Ronna at L.A. Parent, is just one of the ways she is working to promote literacy in children and foster their love of books.

Jessie Voigts, PhD

Dr Jessie Voigts is the publisher of Wanderding Educators, a travel site for global educators. Jessie started the site with her husband, Ed to create a family project and give their young daughter firsthand knowledge about the world. The website is full of informative articles written by contributing editors -  teachers, professors, homeschoolers, authors, students, life learners and administrators. There are travel journals from all over the globe, funny essays involving distant places, info about intercultural education, tips on places to stay when you travel, the best of guide books and so much more.  Jessie has a PhD in International Education from the University of Minnesota, part of the Comparative and International Development Education Program. She is passionate about international and intercultural education, and clearly understands the importance of Americans getting a well-rounded geography education. We’re thrilled to have her on board as a contest judge!

Tim Ravenna

Tim Ravenna brings more than 30 years of design and photography experience to our contest. Tim is the founder of Ravenna Design, a full service art and graphic studio in Hollywood, FL. From corporate logos and wine bottle labels to travel brochures and CD covers, Ravenna Design has been the birthplace of many high quality designs. Tim’s education at the Central Academy of Art in Cincinnati and the American Academy of Art in Chicago marked the beginning of his career. Tim worked as the Art Director of WTVJ in Miami for seven years before branching out on his own. He has teamed up with an extensive client list including many companies in the travel industry such as United Airlines and several cruise lines such as Radisson Seven Seas, Renaissance Cruises and others. His work creating travel brochures over the years has required extensive travel all over the world, including a photo shoot in Costa Rica. “The beauty of Costa Rica is unlike any other place on earth,” said Tim. “That’s why I am so excited about this contest. I’ve been so blessed to be able to travel and learn about cultures, the history of places and the exotic plants and animals of the earth. I’d welcome any opportunity that encourages kids to not only learn more about the world but also celebrate it with art.” Tim has been the recipient of many awards including a Florida Emmy for Art Direction, several Addy awards, National Advertising and Print Awards and others. Tim is an incredibly talented artist and photographer and has an innovative marketing vision. (He designed the Lilly Badilly book and cover!) We are honored to have him on board as a judge!

Eli Gerzon

Eli Gerzon writes and speaks about education and travel and helps young adults learn about the world and themselves on Worldschool Travel Tours. He just returned from his own 5 week journey around Central America, including a trip to Manuel Antonio National Park in Costa Rica where tropical rainforest meets beautiful beaches! He saw sloths, lizards, colorful crabs, and lots of monkeys (this photo was taken in that park full of monkeys, but that is NOT a monkey in the photo!).

Since the age of 18, Eli has been travelling, living, and working around the world. In high school, he homeschooled following the unschooling philosophy where the students are free to direct their own education. The fascination, beauty, and meaningful challenges of travel taught Eli that the world itself can be the best educator, so he coined the term worldschooling, which means: “The whole world is our school: school isn’t our whole world!” And he began leading Worldschool Travel Tours: the first to Mexico, later this year to Japan, and next year to France. On his website, www.eligerzon.com, you can read his Stranger in a Strange Land Newsletter (the travel journal he’s written since 2002), see photos, check-out his blog, and find articles about travel and worldschooling.

Tim Lytle

Tim Lytle left his native Chicago 10 years ago for Costa Rica to “retire” from his big corporate job. Ha! He now has his hand in five separate businesses there, is an expert at all things Costa Rica and receives more than 1,500 emails per week! He created the most comprehensive and informative website about Costa Rica called The Real Costa Rica. Tim was fed up with the misinformation visitors were getting about Costa Rica, so he set out to paint a more accurate picture of this beautiful country. And wow did he ever! You’ll find more than 600 pages of helpful info here. If you are going to Costa Rica, you’ve got to use his website. In addition to The Real Costa Rica, the blog that goes with it and the personal blog Tim writes, he also manages The Association of the Residents of Costa Rica Forums. Tim and his wife Maria Luisa live near the capital city of San Jose. He has two married children living in Chicago, one in Malta and 5.8 grandchildren.( In June it will be SIX!) In his “spare” time, Tim is also writing a book. He says that unless those emails lighten up, he’ll likely never be able to finish! Come October 1, when it is time to judge our contest entries, Tim’s emails will have to wait.

Debbie Glade

Debbie is the award winning author/illustrator and voice talent of The Travel Adventures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa Rica and the owner of Smart Poodle Publishing in Hollywood, FL. This is her second time sponsoring a children’s contest – her third contest overall – and she is still celebrating the overwhelming response she received from her recent librarian writing contest. The inspiring winning entries of What I Wish Everyone Knew About Librarians generated more than 8,000 views! Debbie travels around South Florida to visit elementary and middle schools and share her reading, writing and geography programs, and she blogs daily. She also created an online geography video Q and A called Ask Lilly Badilly All About the World. This author is determined to help improve the geography knowledge amongst both students and teachers in America. Debbie said, “Geography education is greatly lacking in our country, but we are slowly making progress. I wrote my book to make learning about the world fun. Now with this contest we can encourage children to be more curious about people, places and the natural wonders outside their own home towns. The generosity of Rand McNally donating all the contest prizes is what makes this year’s contest most exciting! What child wouldn’t want to win a huge wall map, atlas of the world or travel game?” For 15 years, Debbie was a travel writer for luxury cruise lines and has a BA in Creative Writing from Florida State University. Debbie is a member of the Florida Publisher’s Association, the Independent Publishers Association and the National Council for Geographic Education as well as a sponsor of the Association of Booksellers for children. She is also the Geography Awareness Editor at Wandering Educators and a Parenting Expert at SelfGrowth.com.

Rachel Glade

Rachel Glade is a pianist, composer (of the music on the Lilly Badilly CD) and high school student, graduating from St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale in 2010. As a judge, she brings a welcomed kid’s perspective to the I Love Costa Rica’s Rainforest Contest. Rachel has always been an avid reader and loves to read what other kids are writing. “Judging the 2008 Youngest Travel Writers Contest was so much fun. The imagination little kids have is incredibly entertaining.  I cannot wait to see the children’s artwork of Costa Rica’s Rainforest this year,” she explained. “It will really make this contest special.” This fall Rachel was named a PSAT National Merit Semifinalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction.. She has been playing the piano since she was 6 years old, and has had thousands of hours of practice time playing everything from classical to rock and from jazz to church music. This year she accompanied the students at her school for a production of Grease, is also the accompanist for her school’s traveling choir and performs both piano and sitar at masses. When she is not studying, reading or playing the piano or sitar, she is working as the Director of Internet Market for Smart Poodle Publishing. She has been featured for her role in producing music for The Travel Adventures of Lilly P Badilly: Costa Rica in the Miami Herald and the Sun Sentinel’s Teen Link Magazine. She plans to pursue a career as a scientist in earth and atmospheric sciences, and is particularly interested in geology and preserving our environment. This summer she attended Duke University’s Astrophysics Program in North Carolina.