Third International Oratory Tournament organized by BEST Foundation is a success
From March 26-28, 2021 the BEST Foundation hosted its third international tournament Balkan Voices in cooperation with the American University in Blagoevgrad. Nearly 80 high school students participated in the competition, representing schools from all across the Balkans including Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Romania, and Serbia N. The tournament was held online in the interest of community health, but students still gave live performances in Original Oratory. The students, their coaches, and volunteer judges demonstrated extraordinary perseverance and flexibility under adverse circumstances, in addition to exemplary creativity, hard work, and talent.
BEST is enormously proud to offer a platform for these young people on their journey through English education and creative expression. We are also very proud and grateful to our diverse group of volunteer judges who include working professionals as well as university students who dedicated their weekend to judge. Running the events virtually has its advantage of expanding our judge collective to include expatriate volunteers from different countries who feel a connection to the art of speech.
The tournament had a conference element to it as students did not only compete, but also attended various workshops organized by students and faculty from AUBG including a workshop by the Psychology club, and a lecture about Balkan Cinema by Professor Sean Homer. Several evening virtual social events were also held that enabled students to meet peers from other countries and exchange stories, and even play a virtual game.
"It was a great honor to judge at BEST Foundation`s Balkan Voices International Tournament! I had a chance to see lots of talented high school students from the Balkan region with impressive oratory skills and excellent English language skills" Simeon Milev, American University in Bulgaria
BEST Foundation is especially grateful to the US Embassy in Belgrade for their financial support, without which, this tournament would not have been possible. BEST would also like to thank the team at the Bulgarian-American Fulbright Commission led by Angela Rodel for their endless support to our team for the virtual event and for the care they provided to our volunteers.
Our National Tournament where semifinalists and finalists from all the regionals will compete for Bulgaria’s top speech and debate award is taking place April 23-25. If you wish to volunteer as a judge you can write us at info@bestfoundation.bg
About The BEST Foundation
BEST stands for Bulgarian English Speech and Debate Tournaments. Established in 2013, BEST provides the English-language learners of Bulgaria an opportunity to come together and pursue personal growth through English language speech and debate. BEST aims to empower students to think critically, express themselves creatively, and create a dynamic community that truly cares about the success and the future of Bulgaria. BEST is proud to provide a platform for English-language speech and debate for students across the country.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Petar Donchev: assistant.director@bestfoundation.bg
BALKAN VOICES TOURNAMENT AWARDS
Below are the names of participating teams and winners from the Balkan Voices 2021 tournament; you can view results on Speechwire, as well.
Participating Schools/Teams
SOU Metodi Mitevski - Brico, Republic of North Macedonia
Ernest Koliqi high school, Albania
Secondary Municipal School "St. Cyril and Methodius", Republic of North Macedonia
Yahya Kemal College, Republic of North Macedonia
The "Alexandru Ioan Cuza" National College, Romania
Prishtina High School , Kosovo
New York High School, Albania
Business Administration School Nis, Serbia
The British School of Kosova, Kosovo
Ioan Petrus Theoretical High School, Romania
Gheorghe Lazar National College, Romania
Geo Milev ELS, Bulgaria
High school of Maths and Science “Professor Emanuil Ivanov”, Bulgaria
Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Bulgaria
Dr. Petar Beron Maths School, Bulgaria
English Language School in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
ORIGINAL ORATORY – NOVICE (8th-9th grade)
Semifinalists
Andra Elena Eremia - Ioan Petrus Theoritical High School, Romania
Arisa Ibrahimi - Prishtina High School, Kosovo
Maia Liana Chirita - Ioan Petrus Theoritical High School, Romania
Rita Spahiu - Prishtina High School, Kosovo
Daniel Kostadinovski - SOU Metodi Mitevski - Brico, Republic of North Macedonia
Kaltra Musta - Ernest Koliqi's Team, Albania
Finalists
David Mihailovski - SOU Metodi Mitevski - Brico, Republic of North Macedonia
Marija Janchevska - Yahya Kemal College, Republic of North Macedonia
Cristiana Galateanu - Alexandru Ioan Cuza National College, Romania
Calin Teodor Popa - Ioan Petrus Theoritical High School, Romania
Matej Milosievski - Yahya Kemal College, Republic of North Macedonia
Andrea Tolevska - SOU Metodi Mitevski, Republic of North Macedonia
ORIGINAL ORATORY – VARSITY (10th-12th grade)
Semifinalists
Svenja Alexia Papirowski - Gheorghe Lazar National College, Romania
Juna Hoxha - New York High School Tirana, Albania
Eranda Ajdini - Yahya Kemal College, Republic of North Macedonia
Martina Dzaleva - Yahya Kemal College, Republic of North Macedonia
Iris Grigoras - Gheorghe Lazar National College, Romania
Erma Mici - New York High School Tirana, Albania
Finalists
Tsvetomir Marinov - Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Bulgaria
Ani Kovacheva - High school of Maths and Science “Professor Emanuil Ivanov”, Bulgaria
Dariya Dimitrova - Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Bulgaria
Ekaterina Valeva - English Language School in Plovdiv, Bulgaria
David Dimonu - Gheorghe Lazar National College, Romania
Tereza Todorova - Ekzarh Yosif I FLHS, Bulgaria