Winners
The results are in and you’re all stars!
The six judges were hugely impressed by each and every one of the hundreds of entries we received from all over Ukraine. On Saturday, they began the process of watching every single video, finally selecting a shortlist of 14 last night. While there could only be four prize winners, everyone who participated will receive a thank you card from the judging panel as well as their very best wishes for the future. “I enjoyed watching all of the entries and it was very difficult to choose just four in the end,” one of the judges commented. In particular, Colin, Monika, Wendy, Sam, Grace and Aaron asked if we could pass on special commendations to:
Vita Gerasimenko from Kyiv’s School Number 71, whose video had “excellent visuals and a great selection of topics. Vita spoke very clearly and used hand gestures incredibly well. The scene changes also helped make the video more eye-catching and interesting”.
Denis Heryavenko from Lviv’s Linguistic Gymnasium, who was “very enthusiastic, expressive and confident. His English was very clear and the content was logically structured. He’d done a lot of research about Reading and very cleverly linked it to Lviv”.
Artem Smoliar from Zhytomyr’s Gymnasium 23 for his “interesting idea to use interviews and his strong concluding statement”.
Polina Slava from Odesa’s Gymnasium Number 2, who had “fabulous English and a very professional style”.
Mariia Krutsko from Lviv’s School Number 32 for “a really professional presentation. If Mariia’s never thought about being a TV presenter, I’d recommend it as her future career”.
Victoria Kulinyak from Chervonograd’s School Number 8 for “her engaging delivery, excellent use of props and for the rooster crowing at the end. She was passionate and original”.
Oksana Grynyk from Kyiv’s School Number 9 for “a wonderfully professional presentation on what partnership means. She was great!”
Dmytro Romaniv from Chervonograd also got several mentions for “generally doing an excellent job” and Sofia Fufalko from Kyiv’s School Number 296 for “having a huge smile in every single shot”.
Finally, Sergei Dyatel from Lutsk’s School Number 5 got a special mention as “a future film director. His editing was just fantastic!”
The judges also noticed that there were an incredible 15 entries from Lviv’s School Number 75. “All 15 were of a very high standard,” one judge wrote, “which shows not just the quality and enthusiasm of the students but is also proof that they have wonderful teachers too.”
After a lot of discussion and one final late-night email from Aaron, who’s currently travelling around Colombia, we finally managed to find just four…
In fourth place, Maria Baeva from Odessa’s Gymansium Number 1 got lots of positive comments for “very clear English and a friendly, positive presenting style. The video was bright and the visuals were clear, which made it more enjoyable to watch”.
4th Prize:
1,000UAH vouchers to be spent at Dinternal Education for both the winning student and his/her class teacher.
In third place, Bogdan Yerokhin from Lviv’s Linguistic Gymnasium has “done lots and lots of research about Reading. He spoke clearly and he mentioned the positive aspects of partnership. Structured and clear, he was really impressive throughout”.
3rd Prize:
1,500UAH vouchers to be spent at Dinternal Education for both the winning student and his/her class teacher.
The runner-up was Rostislav Kucherenko, who also studies at Odessa’s Gymnasium Number 1. One judge said: “He showed a lot of enthusiasm by actually showing the viewer around his home city. His English was excellent and the video was both informative and fun to watch. The attention to detail was incredible too – he even had an English top!” Another commended Rostislav for “having enough enthusiasm to get beyond the poor sound quality and give us a unique take on his city, including the cat café at the end. I’ve never been to Odessa, but he really brought it to life .”
2nd Prize:
one class set (maximum of 15 student books + MyEnglishLab or workbook) for the winning student’s school plus a 2,000UAH voucher for the student to be spent at Dinternal Education
1st Prize:
two weeks as part of an Alekom Education group at a residential summer school at Queen Anne’s in Caversham, Reading (Great Britain).The winner, by a very narrow margin, was Yelyzaveta Kostyakina, a year 9 student at Kyiv’s Scandinavian Gymnasium. “Engaging delivery and props,” thought one judge. “A star,” said another. “She made me smile for the whole two minutes.”
For her two-minute video, Yelyzaveta wins a fully-funded two-week stay in the United Kingdom this summer courtesy of our generous competition sponsors Alekom Tour. We hope you enjoy discovering Britain, Yelyzaveta, and you come back with hundreds of new words and memories you’ll never ever forget. That really is the power of partnership!
Thank you to all the students who took part, and to the teachers who inspire them every single day. As always, we are proud to work with you all.
Together we do more
