The Constitutional Court publishes the results of the 4th school students’ drawing and essay competition devoted to the Constitution of Latvia
The evaluation of works presented for the school students’ drawing and essay competition, which had been announced in September 2020, was completed on Friday, 15 January. Today, in line with the statutes of the competition, the Court is publishing the names of the winners and recipients of merit certificates in the following categories: the drawing competition for 6th-graders “All children are equal in their rights”, the essay competition for 9th-graders “How can I help my family and schoolmates to exercise their equal rights?” and the essay competition for 12th-graders “How does the Constitution help me develop into a responsible Latvian citizen?”
239 drawings in the 6th-grade group, 39 essays in the 9th-grade group, and 39 essays in the 12th-grade group were sent in for the Constitutional Court’s competition devoted to the basic law of our country – the Satversme (Constitution) of the Republic of Latvia. Represented in the competition were 66 schools from all regions of Latvia.
The Constitutional Court thanks all the students for active involvement, creative thoughts, and the works sent in. The Court also thanks the teachers who had devoted their time to encouraging the students and explaining to them the fundamental values of the Constitution and Latvia as a democratic rule-of-law state.
Following the statutes of the competition, the Evaluation Commission comprising all the justices of the Constitutional Court evaluated the works sent in and decided:
The winners of the drawing competition for 6th grade students “All children are equal in their rights” are:
1st place – Zasa Secondary School student Raivo Mikušāns. Teacher – Inese Kalniškāne.
2nd place – Zasa Secondary School student Sindija Minalto. Teacher – Inese Kalniškāne.
3rd place – student at Talsi Secondary School No 2 Keita Lība Andiņa. Teacher – Zane Bodniece.
3rd place – student at Ludza Secondary School No 2 Dana Streļcova. Teacher – Irīna Martjukova.
Pursuant to paragraph 20 of the competition statutes, the Evaluation Commission decided to award two 3rd places. This decision is based on the fact that two works had scored the third highest number of points, thus qualifying for the 3rd place in accordance with paragraph 25.1 of the statutes.
The certificates of merit in the drawing competition for 6th grade students “All children are equal in their rights” are awarded to:
Bauska City Lower Secondary School student Nikola Šikova. Teacher – Daiga Sējēja.
Uzvaras Lower Secondary School student Sanija Kavaļauska. Teacher – Daiga Sējēja.
Liepāja Centre Primary School student Daniela Tetere. Teacher – Agnese Kundziņa.
Pilda Lower Secondary School student Anastasija Jankovska. Teacher – Ineta Zvonņikova.
Student at the Private Secondary School INNOVA Tatjana Barčevska. Teacher – Anastasija Fostiropulo.
Rožupe Lower Secondary School student Nadežda Sidorova. Teacher – Līga Bernāne.
Straupe Lower Secondary School student Renārs Ruža. Teachers – Iveta Adamsone, Daiga Kreituze.
Student of Ventspils Secondary School No 4 Grieta Kornijanova. Teacher – Madara Lilienfelde.
Viesīte Secondary School student Reinis Rugainis. Teacher – Sarmīte Ratiņa.
Student at Atis Kronvalds Durbe Lower Secondary School Gerda Marija Linde. Teacher – Inga Lankupa.
Student at Rēzekne Secondary School No 3 Kamilla Olenoviča. Teacher – Jekaterina Borisovska-Cvetkova.
Pursuant to paragraph 20 of the competition statutes, the Evaluation Commission decided to award an additional certificate of merit. This decision is based on the fact that two works had scored the highest number of points, thus qualifying for the receipt of a certificate of merit in accordance with paragraph 26.1 of the statutes.
The winners of the essay competition for 9th grade students “How can I help my family and schoolmates to exercise their equal rights?” are:
1st place – student at Ventspils Secondary School No 4 Undīne Ērkšķe. Teacher – Inga Ozoliņa.
2nd place – student at Ludza Secondary School No 2 Viola Ivanova. Teacher – Ilga Šļubčenko.
3rd place – student at Krāslava Secondary School Varavīksne Nikola Lebedeva. Teacher – Valentīna Purpiša.
The certificates of merit in the essay competition for 9th grade students “How can I help my family and schoolmates to exercise their equal rights?” are awarded to:
Riebiņi Secondary School student Viktorija Nagle. Teacher – Diāna Bravacka.
Student at Talsi Secondary School No 2 Edvards Ošiņš. Teacher – Zane Bodniece.
The winners and the takers of the well-earned places in the essay competition for 12th grade students “How does the Constitution help me develop into a responsible Latvian citizen?” are:
1st place – student at Jelgava Spīdola State Gymnasium Roberts Ralfs Vārslavs. Teacher – Gunita Smiltāne.
2nd place – student at Jelgava Spīdola State Gymnasium Evelīna Līna Ņikiforova. Teacher – Gunita Smiltāne.
3rd place – student at Vidzeme Technology and Design Technical School Kaspars Krēvics. Teacher – Marija Grīnberga.
The certificates of merit in the essay competition for 12th grade students “How does the Constitution help me develop into a responsible Latvian citizen?” are awarded to:
Student at Jelgava Spīdola State Gymnasium Arleta Apsīte. Teacher – Gunita Smiltāne.
Student at Jelgava Spīdola State Gymnasium Laura Kaņepone. Teacher – Gunita Smiltāne.
Student at Salaspils Secondary School No 1 Laura Mišela Ilsjāne. Teacher – Daina Tauriņa.
Pursuant to paragraph 20 of the competition statutes, the Evaluation Commission decided to award an additional certificate of merit. This decision is based on the fact that two works had scored the highest number of points, thus qualifying for the receipt of a certificate of merit in accordance with paragraph 26.3 of the statutes.
This year, too, the Court says many thanks to all its cooperation partners who were evaluating the works sent in for the competition and agreed to choose the recipients of their special prizes. This year, the works were evaluated by the former President of the Constitutional Court, judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union Ineta Ziemele, Director of the Public Law Institute Arvīds Dravnieks, representatives from the Art Academy of Latvia and the creative teams of the journal Jurista Vārds and the magazines Domuzīme and Ilustrētā Junioriem.
The special prize of the former President of the Constitutional Court, judge of the Court of Justice of the European Union Ineta Ziemele in the essay competition for 12th grade students “How does the Constitution help me develop into a responsible Latvian citizen?” is awarded to the student of the Friendly Appeal Liepāja Secondary School No 5 Anna Elizabete Ķēniņa. Teacher – Agnis Timermanis.
The special prize of the Art Academy of Latvia in the drawing competition “All children are equal in their rights” is awarded to Ludza City Gymnasium student Loreta Leščinska. Teacher – Ineta Zvonņikova. Certificates of merit are awarded to Krāslava State Gymnasium student Anna Umbraško (teacher – Dzintra Rateniece), Rencēni Lower Secondary School student Karlīna Andželika Žavoronkova (teacher – Ilona Mežinska), Stende Lower Secondary School student Dāvis Grīslis (teacher – Dace Kalmane), Zante Lower Secondary School student Kārlis Cinkuss (teacher – Elita Ose).
The special prize of Ilustrētā Junioriem magazine in the drawing competition “All children are equal in their rights” is awarded to Āgenskalns Primary School student Madara Šidlovska. Teacher – Iveta Cimare.
The Director of Public Law Institute Arvīds Dravnieks and the creative teams of Jurista Vārds journal and Domuzīme magazine will name the winners of the special prizes in the next two weeks. The Constitutional Court will contact the winners of the special prizes individually.
The winners of the competition, the recipients of the certificates of merit and special prizes, as well as their teachers, will be invited to the formal awards ceremony of the competition, which will be held remotely on 15 February this year.
The works of the winners, recipients of the certificates of merit and special prizes can be viewed here.
Symbolically, the competition opened with the Constitutional Court’s webinar for Latvian schools: “A school student – a responsible citizen of Latvia”. The video recording of the webinar is available here.
A video about the Constitutional Court can be watched here.
About the school students’ drawing and essay competition
The Constitutional Court believes that the new generations’ knowledge about their country and its underlying values as defined in the country’s basic law – the Constitution – is of great importance for the development of Latvia. It is essential that the new generation knows and understands the Constitution, as it is they who will shape the country’s future.
The Constitutional Court announced the competition of creative works for the first time in September 2017. Over the period of four years, the Constitutional Court received more than 1100 student’s drawings and essays about the Constitution as part of this initiative. The creative works reflect the students’ vision of themselves in Latvia – today and in the future.
The aim of the competition is to promote the school students’ loyalty to Latvia and their confidence in the Constitution, as well as to strengthen their statehood awareness and encourage them to participate in the processes that are taking place in the state. With the help of this competition, the Constitutional Court wishes to promote the school students’ interest in and understanding of the Constitution and its importance, as well as to improve their knowledge of the fundamental values of Latvia as a democratic rule-of-law state, to acquaint them with the Constitutional Court, explaining its role in democratic society.