By Lina Jarad | Executive Director
June 28 Report
Engage 1000 Bulgarian Students
During the second semester of this academic year we hosted two regional tournaments, an international oratory tournament and the national and final tournament.
The two regionals were attended by around 120 students each who competed in all five categories: Duo Interpretation, Poetry Interpretation, Prose Interpretation, Original Oratory and Debate. This was students’ second chance to practice the pieces that they have presented during the Fall semester and compete for a chance to reach the national competition. There were strong ties between competitors in the Duo and Debate categories for the Spring West Region competition, with two teams from Plovdiv (led and coached by a student) won the debate category.
We are very proud and grateful to our diverse group of volunteer judges who include not only school teachers, university professors, consultants and more professionals but also university students who specialize in disciplines such as communications, economics, law, creative arts and more. Running the events virtually has its advantage of expanding our judge collective to include expatriate Bulgarians and volunteers from different countries who feel a connection to Bulgaria. Stanimir, Resident Life Ambassador at Kingston University said: “It was a pleasure judging such talented young people, proving that art, poetry and the love for language are still alive, more than ever. I personally learned a lot from the students, and I got to see their performances and be touched by so many of them.”
After the two regional tournaments, we hosted Balkan Voices International Oratory Tournament on March 26-28, which hosted 80 students from six neighboring countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Northern Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia. The first goal of the program was to provide students from the Balkans the opportunity to exchange ideas, cultural values, and experiences through public speaking in the format of an Original Oratory competition, as well as through informal activities throughout the weekend organized by BEST and American University in Bulgaria. This was achieved by the participation rate and competitors presenting a diverse range of topics such as: brain drain in the Balkans, the challenges of being an artist in Romania, LGBT rights, the refugee crisis in Europe, study abroad and many more topics. Students exchanged experiences during the social hour on opening night, in the chat rooms in between competition rounds, as well as during the cultural quiz night on Saturday night. The lecture on Balkan Cinema by Professor Homer from AUBG was a unique cultural experience that also engaged the adult judges, teachers and students alike. The second goal of the program was to introduce students to AUBG and their American culture and atmosphere at the university. This was achieved by the several workshops and lectures provided by AUBG staff, faculty, and students. The psychology club provided an ice break workshop on the opening night of the tournament, while the admissions office and a literary professor provided other workshops on the main tournament day.
The national tournament was the finale where Bulgarian students who reached semifinals and finals in all regional tournaments, got together to compete on a national level between April 23-25. The tournament was again held online in the interest of community health. The students, their coaches, and volunteer judges demonstrated extraordinary perseverance and flexibility under adverse circumstances, in addition to exemplary creativity, hard work, and talent.
Rumena who is a senior English Teacher at St Cyrilus Philosopher Ruse said: “It was an inspiring experience and every competitor was really great, a real treasure! Thanks to the Management Team for the support.” The small team award was won by Second English High School in Sofia, and the large team award was won by Lyudmil Stoyanov Foreign Language High School in Blagoevgrad.
While we wrap up the tournament season, we now get ready for forming the new management team of BEST Foundation as each year new long-term volunteers, with a few returning ones, form the team who manages various programs. We are also working on an exciting new program: Summer Camp, which will take place in August as well as the Summer Slam online showcase, which will take place in September. Thanks to your generous support our programs continue to grow and we look forward to updating you with our news very soon.
Have a great summer!
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By Lina Jarad | Executive Director
By Lina Jarad | Executive Director
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