Latvian Award Ceremony 2013
The award ceremony of the Latvian history competition took place in Riga, in The House of Blackheads, the President's residence, on 25 May, 2013. There were 135 research works this year, submitted by 165 students of all districts of Latvia. The advisers were 67 teachers who helped the students in their research. The topic of this competition was “The history of education in Latvia”.
You can view a short report about this prize giving ceremony on youtube.
The topics chosen by the participants were different, such as the history of their native schools, the biographies of outstanding teachers, and the changes in the development of education during different political regimes. The participants investigated conditions of learning, compared school books, pupils' school uniforms through centuries. They made some models of school buildings, or films and games.
The Award ceremony was an emotional one. Most of pupils had never been in The House of Blackheads before. The President of Latvia, Andris Bērziņš, gave awards to the winners.
Anastasija Smirnova, 19, ("Women’s education – One of the Activities of the Women’s organizations in Latvia in the 20s and 30s of the 20th century"), Karīna Zaharāne, 18, ("The Various Historical Sources – Reflections on the Third Awakening in Tukuma Grammar school no.1 (1986 -1991)", and Madara Brenčeva, 17, ("The Pupils’ Style of Dressing in Madona and the Neighborhood From the End of the 19th Century till the 30s of the 20th Century") won the first prizes in the three categories.
All participants were presented diplomas and books of sponsors: different museums ( Latvian National History Museum, The Museum of Occupation, The Latvian Popular Front Museum) and publishing houses ( Zvaigzne ABC, Jumava, Madris).
At the end of the event, Laura Lapina, herself a EUSTORY alumni, gave a short presentation about EUSTORY Summer Academies for award winners.