BEST Foundation and AUBG bring together students from Six Balkan countries to compete in original oratory

From the 18th to the 20th of March, the BEST Foundation in conjunction with American University in Blagoevgad hosted its 4th International Tournament, Balkan Voices. Over 50 high schoolers from all over the Balkan Peninsula attended the original oratory competition, which ended up bringing together students from Albania, Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro and Romania. The tournament was held online in interest of public health, but students still managed to form bonds with their peers from neighboring countries and foster important cross-cultural relationships. 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 especially grateful to the American University in Blagoevgrad who are our hosts when we have in-person tournaments, and who during this tournament provided educational and entertaining lectures and workshops for the students. We would also like to express our gratitude to the Regional English Language Office at the U.S. Embassy in Belgrade who are our official sponsor for the event, as well as to the Fulbright Commission and the ETA Program for the continuous support to the organization. During the opening ceremony Ms Boriana Shalyavska, the Director of Admissions at AUBG and Mr. Kevin McCaughy, a part of the U.S Embassy in Belgrade, both took the stage and expressed their admiration for the students’ hard work preparing for the competition. 

Even though they could not meet in person, during this tournament the students were divided into multicultural teams and were invited to complete several informal games and challenges together. They not only managed to strengthen their friendship and learn more about each other, but also put their creativity and wit to good use. One of the challenges was to write a poem about Balkan Foods and after the end of the competition we got to hear Borana Musa and Liliya Ivanova perform the impressive poems their teams managed to compose.

Our next competition, the 2022 National Tournament, will be held from the 16th to the 17th of April and we are excited to announce that it will be hybrid. While some of our competitors and judges will be joining us online, a majority of them will also have a chance to see each other in person on the AUBG campus in Blagoevgrad. 

Balkan Voices Tournament Awards

Below are the names of participating teams; you can view results on Speechwire, as well.

FLHS Acad. Ludmil Stoyanov - Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Foreign Language School "Geo Milev" - Dobrich, Bulgaria
FLHS "Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov" - Haskovo, Bulgaria
FLHS "Ekzarh Yosif I" - Lovech, Bulgaria
"Geo Milev" English language school - Ruse, Bulgaria
12th Secondary School "Tsar Ivan Asen II" - Sofia, Bulgaria
119th Secondary School "Acad. Mihail Arnaudov" - Sofia, Bulgaria
FLHS "Romain Rolland" - Stara Zagora, Bulgaria
MG "Dr Petar Beron" - Varna, Bulgaria
FLHS "Vasil Karagyozov'' - Yambol, Bulgaria
“Ernest Koliqi” High School - Tirana, Albania
New York High School - Tirana, Albania
Pikë Education - Prishtinë, Kosovo
Arcadia Academy - Tivat, Montenegro
SOU Metodi Mitevski Brico - Delchevo, North Macedonia
Yahya Kemal College - Skopje, North Macedonia
Centre of Excellence - Galati, Romania
National College Gheorghe Lazar - Bucharest, Romania

AWARDS

ORIGINAL ORATORY – NOVICE (8th-9th grade)

Finalists

  1. Borana Musa - “Ernest Koliqi” High School, Tirana 

  2. Andia Jusufati - New York High School, Tirana 

  3. Vernon Petkov - Ekzarh Yossif I FLHS, Lovech

  4. Liliya Ivanova - FLHS "Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov", Haskovo 

  5. Gabriella Daneva - FLHS "Prof. Dr. Assen Zlatarov", Haskovo 

  6. Kjara Dylgjeri - New York High School, Tirana 

ORIGINAL ORATORY– VARSITY (10th-12th grade)

Semifinalists

  • Tereza Todorova - Ekzarh Yossif I FLHS, Lovech

  • Viktoria Daskalova - Lyudmil Stoyanova FLHS, Blagoevgrad

  • Elena Angelovska - SOU Metodi Mitevski, Brico 

  • Mihaela Marinova - Ekzarh Yossif I FLHS, Lovech

  • Janina Petrova - Dr. Petar Beron Maths School, Varna 

  • Slavcho Balabanov - Lyudmil Stoyanova FLHS, Blagoevgrad

Finalists

  1. Katherina Nankova - Dr. Petar Beron Maths School, Varna Bulgaria

  2. Anna-Mariya Bogdanova - Romain Rolland FLHS, Stara Zagora

  3. Alexandra Nitescu - Gheorghe Lazar National College, Tirana

  4. Marija Janchevska -  Yahya Kemal College, Skopje 

  5. Desa Harxhi - Ernest Koliqi High School, Tirana, 

  6. Eliza Maria Niculescu - Gheorghe Lazar National College, Bucharest

BEST Foundation