30 • 04 • 2015
Team work prevails in Forest Competition
In the spirit of sportsmanship, with laughter and songs from children and teenagers, the annual Forest Competition Finale took place on April 24, gathering students from six Latvian schools. Tervete Nature Park, where the event took place, was rife with all sorts of activity – white-red colored flags marked 30 checkpoints of "Mammadaba Adventures", testing both agility and endurance, like, for example, a quiz on forestry and forest animals, or walking on a rope and keeping balance.
"All of you are winners," as the finalists were addressed by Anda Sproģe, head of "Latvian State Forests" Communications Projects, emphasizing that the road to the finals was not easy. This year, competition between schools was surprisingly fierce – a total of 316 study course descriptions from 109 education institutions were submitted.
Students from Balvi State Gymnasium took 1st place in the Forest Competition. The prize – a nature expedition in Norway. "Emotions after the victory – fantastic, we still cannot believe it! The competition was tough, all tasks were very interesting. I really enjoyed the labyrinth. I, on the other hand, – the beautiful tower. We are youth guards, thus, orienteering in a park is not difficult. Answering the questions was much harder! However, our achievements depend on team work. During the race, we split into two teams – each chose its own direction, and the result was rewarding," the Balvi State Gymnasium team members recalled, calling themselves "survivors".
Winding up in 2nd place, Gaigala Elementary School, received from the competition's sponsor "Tallink" – a cruise trip to Stockholm. 3rd place – Zvejniekciems High School – the opportunity for 40 students to jointly take part in a nature exploration trip in Tervete Nature Park. 4th place – Krisjanis Valdemars' Ainazi Elementary School, 5th place – Vecumnieki High School, 6th place – Jelgava 2nd Elementary School.
Following the event, yummy picnic food and presentation of homework, the jury calculated and announced scores for each team. "I am always delighted about everything that takes place during the Forest Competition. I wish to note a positive fact that the score was not automatically given only according to the highest speed or best answers; we also had the opportunity of giving points to the most enthusiastic students, for example, regarding preparation of a performance," says Māra Mikule, member of the jury, who is also the senior officer of the Forest Department, Forest Strategy Division, at the Agriculture Ministry. Meanwhile, the head of the educational program "Learning about forests", Rachel Boyle, as a member of the jury, was surprised at the students' enthusiasm, as well as the high-level organization of the event: "I am glad I could be part of this fantastic event with such smart and attractive students! The competition was held in a highly professional manner – a lot has been invested. Good job!" The judges also included the head of Tervete Nature Park, Kristaps Didže, Director of the Tourism Information Center, Lilita Kauste, as well as Director of "Latvian State Forests" Internal Communications, Inga Pētersone, and Chief of Communications Projects, Anda Sproģe.
As it has been at every competition, there were surprises. Singer Valters Frīdenbergs this time served as a musical surprise, performing popular songs composed by Mārtiņš Freimanis. Participants “caught a second wind" and enthusiastically joined in, singing even in Italian. They also told anecdotes and performed somersaults. The event was truly sweet, warm, and friendly!
We would like to thank the participants and teachers for their work during the entire school year, and express gratitude for the glorious spring day!
The objective of the forest competition is to urge teachers to include themes and events in the general education system in order to increase students' experience and skill, through direct contact with nature and environment. This year's theme – social sciences in forest. The competition was organized by JSC "Latvian State Forests", as part of the educational program "Learning About Forests".
