From 23 to 26 November, the final of the international competition “Ventspils IT Challenge 2020” took place, in which young people from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania for the fifth year in a row accepted the challenge of Ventspils to show their skills in creative use of technology. On Friday, November 27, the winners were announced, who distributed an ambitious cash prize fund of 12,000 EUR.
Despite the fact that due to the epidemiological situation, this year’s competition took place in an unusual format – online only – it did not change the enthusiasm of the participants and the creativity of the submitted works. A total of 64 teams with 256 participants competed for prizes throughout the week. As this year’s competition was dedicated to the future Ventspils Science and Innovation Center, the topics of the tasks were closely related to the presence of technology in all areas of life, with special emphasis on natural sciences, engineering, mathematics and technology (STEM).
The final of the competition ended with a live award ceremony, which could be watched on the competition’s Facebook page. The winners received Ventspils City Council cash prizes and choice awards from Start (IT), Ventspils Education Board and Ventspils Digital Center. The winners of the competition “Ventspils IT Challenge 2020” are:
- Group A (1st – 3rd class):
- 1st place: Team “IT TRIO”, Lībagu primary school;
- 2nd place: Team “Raganas trio”, Krimuldas Secondary school;
- 3rd place: Team “Stariņi”, Jelgavas Secondary school No.5.
- Group B (4th – 6th class):
- 1st place: Team “EZJ”, Vilkaviškio “Ąžuolo” progymnasium;
- 2nd place: Team “The Golden trio”, Kuldigas Centre Secondary school;
- 3rd place: Team “Pikseļi”, Rīgas Ukrainian high school.
- Group C (7th – 9th class):
- 1st place: Team “Staicelieši”, Staiceles primary school;
- 2nd place: Team “Tobillos”, Ventspils State 1st Gymnasium;
- 3rd place: Team “C#”, Cēsu State Gymnasium.
- Group D (10th – 12th class):
- 1st place: Team “Koks”, Valmiera State Gymnasium;
- 2nd place: Team “Klövr” “Riga State 1st Gymnasium;
- 3rd place: Team “Olimps”, Liepāja State 1st Gymnasium.
A special thank you from the organizers of the competition for teachers, whose involvement in the competition is especially important. The 200 EUR cash prize was awarded to the most active teachers, under whose leadership the most teams participated in the competition:
- Signe Reidla (Peetri Lasteaed-Põhikool) – 10 teams;
- Tiiu Leiburg (Pärnu Koidula Gymnasium) – 8 teams;
- Vitnija Kokoreviča (Riga French Lyceum) – 8 teams.
The Ventspils Education Board had also prepared its own awards for Ventspils schools, which were presented in the following nominations:
- The most active Ventspils school: Ventspils 2nd primary school – 7 teams;
- The most active Ventspils teacher: Ilze Bukela, Ventspils 2nd primary school – 7 teams;
- Hope for the future: Team “Mazulīši” from Ventspils 2nd primary school – 7 years for all participants, teacher Ilze Bukela.
The big prize of the “Competition in the competition” – Ventspils Digital Center field technology workshop worth 2000 EUR – was won by the Estonian school Pärnu Koidula Gümnaasium, from which 9 teams participated in the competition.
Participants also had the opportunity to participate in a social network challenge. Pupils actively used this opportunity to cover the Ventspils IT challenge from the other side of the screens on social networks Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #Ventspilsitc2020. The team “Staicelieši”, Alvis Miglavs and Ronalds Palacis received prizes in the social network competition. Kuldīga Center Secondary School received the sympathy award for a thoughtful video. When searching for entries with this hashtag, you can also get acquainted with the course of the competition from the participants’ point of view.
The competition “Ventspils IT Challenge 2020” was organized by Ventspils City Municipality Institution “Ventspils Digital Center” with the support of Ventspils City Council.
Competition supporters: Information Technology Foundation for Education (HITSA), Network of innovative informal education for youth (INPUT), educational organization MTÜ Nuti-Võlur, IT Education Foundation – Start (IT ), Prezi, Infogram, Overly, Accenture Latvia, The Latvian Information and Communications Technology Association (LIKTA), All Digital organization, STEAMonEdu project, Latvian Informatics Olympiad, eTwinning, Zemgale Region Human Resource and Competences Development Centre, Ventspils City Council, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences , Ventspils Digital Centre, Ventspils Vocational School, Ventspils Creative House and Ventspils Education Department.
