Press Centre

Winners of the 2010 Russian Junior 8 Competition Are Announced in Krasnoyarsk

The Central Competition Committee for the All-Russian Competition 2010 Junior 8 (J8) has announced the final winners.  The committee members included:  V. V. Markovchin, advisor to the Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, L. E. Burda, authorized representative of the President of Russia in the Siberian Federal District, T. V. Ushakova, chairman of the Council of the Young People’s Movement Junior 8, as well as experts in psychology and linguistics.

This year more than 800 senior high school students from the Siberian Federal District took part in the competition.  During the second round of the contest, held on February 21-27 in Krasnoyarsk, there were 80 participants.  From this group, 8 students were named as the final winners.  All of the final winners will receive a grant from the national project, Education, as well as the right to attend any Russian institution of higher education without taking any entrance examinations.

Listed below are the names of the winners of the 2010 Russian J8 Competition:
Baizarov, Alexander (Public School #9, Nazarovo, Krasnoyarsk Territory)
Buyantueva, Dolgor (Linguistic Gymnasium No. 3, Ulan-Ude, the Republic of Buryatia)
Kovaleva, Natalia (Gymnasium No. 1, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast)
Mastov, Alexey (Public School Gymnasium No. 2, Novosibirsk, Novosibirsk Oblast)
Panin, Konstantin (Public School Gymnasium No. 164, Zelenogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory)
Prokaorova, Sofia (Public School Gymnasium No. 21, Kemerovo, Kemerovo Oblast)
Takaveev, Vakil (Public Space Science School, Zheleznogorsk, Krasnoyarsk Territory)
Yarchenko, Oksana (Republic-wide Classical Lycee, Gorno-Altaisk, the Republic of Altai)

Tatiana Geluevna Yanicheva, head of the psychology experts, director of the non-governmental organization Architecture of the Future, and Associate Professor at St. Petersburg State University, commented, “The Siberian youngsters are less emotional than, for example, than their counterparts in the southern region of Russia with whom we worked last year; however, they are certainly not less energetic.  They enthusiastically got quickly down to business in discussions on how to find specific ways and actions to deal with issues, finding ways that each member could participate in developing solutions.  And in their discussions one could see a spirit of friendship, joint creativity, and team effort, which is absolutely essential.  Their comradery also affected us.  This is the most important thing.”

During the second round of the 2010 Russian J8 Competition the contestants went through
a series of test-like activities which included exercises to evaluate their oral and written English abilities, psychological training, and a session to look at their group participation skills. The experts in psychology and linguistics closely observed the youngsters as they took part in the above activities and evaluated each contestant on more than 20 different criteria.  Their criteria included such items as:  English language ability, organizational skills, initiative, speaking skills, general knowledge, and self-control.

In addition to the above activities, a cultural program was also organized for the teens.  This included visiting a regional museum, a wildlife park, and taking part in a photo-quest.  The young people also came with their own additional projects for relaxation and entertainment.  They were assisted by their mentors, former J8 participants who were from the Council of the Young People’s Movement Junior 8.

Ksenia Nikiforova, supervisor of the working group, member of the Council of the Young People’s Movement Junior 8, student at the St. Petersburg State University Law School, and participant in the 2007 J8 Summit said, “This is the first time that I participated in the competition as the supervisor of the working group. I was very impressed with these teens, but
I didn’t expect anything less.  The trip to Krasnoyarsk was very helpful for us as we were able
to do a great deal of networking.  When we participated in the round table called The Generation of Modernization we met representatives from the youth shadow government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory and now we are planning some joint projects.”

Experts from the Central Competition Commission note that it was extremely difficult to decide on the composition of the Siberian J8 group.  Therefore, thanks to a proposal from the Minister of Education and Science in the Krasnoyarsk Territory, VV. Basheva, and supported by the plenipotentiary envoy to the Siberian Federal District, L. E. Burda, to recognize worthy participants from the Siberian Federal District that weren’t selected for the J8 team, eight additional teens were given certificates indicating that they were finalists in the competition, along with a trip to the Birysa youth camp in 2010.

These eight additional finalists were:
Dere, Idermaa-Kyzyl
Zalevski, Victor-Abakan
Naichykov, Nikita-Tomsk
Pavlinov, Ilyac-Rubtsovsk
Cenkov, Alexey-Omsk
Sheshykov, Dmitry-Chita
Shobogorova, Alexsandra-Irkutsk
Shpakov, Roman-Irkutsk

Now all the winners of the 2010 Russian J8 Competition are looking forward to a series of training activities, lessons, and meetings with prominent government officials in the area of science and education, which will take place in St. Petersburg and Moscow in March. The eight finalists have been invited to participate one of the sessions of the Birysa youth camp.  All of those who participated in the second round of the contest can take part in the international session of the Orlenok All-Russian Children’s Center, which is arranged to coincide with the fifth youth summit.  They can also continue the work they began during the competition by joining the the Young People’s Youth Movement Junior 8.