On April 18, in the Assembly Hall of SSU Bldg. 10, there was held an awarding ceremony of prize-winners of the 13th contest for creatively talented high school students from Saratov Region and other Russian regions entitled The Power of the Word. The competition is organised by the Institute of Philology and Journalism, SSU, under the patronage of Governor of Saratov Region Roman Busargin.

The ceremony was opened by the initiator and inspirer of the contest, Honoured Scholar of the Russian Federation, Scientific Supervisor of the Institute of Philology and Journalism, Professor Valerii Prozorov.

‘We are glad to meet new participants of the contest, and cordially welcome long-time friends – both students and teachers, including many of our graduates. This year Pushkin connects us and overshadows us. Our student contestants have discovered a surprisingly emotional and intellectual understanding of the Pushkin word. The Power of the Word is a great start for continuing humanities education at the Institute of Philology and Journalism. To paraphrase a well-known verse, we can say, ‘The Fatherland is our Institute of Philology and Journalism.’

Valerii Prozorov gave the floor to welcome and award the winners of the contest to Head of Priority Projects and Programmes, SSU, Professor Elena Yelina.

‘In the history of humankind, in the history of every country and in the fate of every person, there comes a moment when the word becomes especially in demand. I am glad that the students have gathered here who, using literature or using the first journalistic tests, have already understood the power of the word and felt exactly what formed the basis for the name of our long-term competition. When a phenomenon has existed for many years, it indicates the stability of the system, that it was correctly invented and functions correctly,’ she noted.

Head of the Information Cooperation and Monitoring Department of the Ministry of Information and Mass Communications of Saratov Region Maria Malamanova presented the diplomas to the winners of the Journalistic Debut nomination and awarded a special diploma to an 11th grade student of P.M. Kovalenko Secondary School No. 30 Miroslav Palagin.

‘We are living in the age of information technology development, gadgets are embracing us more and more, they are talking more and more about clip thinking, but the Power of the Word contest shows that young people still truly love literature. It is wonderful that there is such a traditional competition. Your participation in it is a “ticket to adulthood”,’ Maria Malamanova emphasised.

Irina Novikova, Vice-Rector for Academic Affairs of Saratov Regional Institute for Educational Development, presented letters of appreciation from the Ministry of Education of Saratov Region to the teachers who had trained the prize-winners of the competition.

‘Today, the power of words is in demand in the information society. The teachers have done a lot to develop the ability to clearly express thoughts, convince someone, motivate them to do the right thing, interact with other people, and be a member of the team. All this is expressed in words. I hope you we move forward together – students, parents, and family. Cooperation, friendship, and understanding today help achieve high educational results and win the competition,’ she marked.

Awarding the diplomas to the winners of the contest, Director of the Institute of Philology and Journalism Lyudmila Borisova pointed out.

‘I am very pleased to see our participants, students, parents, and teachers in this hall and especially pleased to see our graduates. Thank you very much for loving our contest and participating in it with pleasure. Any success largely depends on fruitful communication, how well we can find the right words, make a dialogue that allows us to achieve inner harmony and mutual understanding.’

Lyudmila Borisova thanked the teaching staff who were part of the jury of the competition – Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Gulnara Altynbayeva; the staff of the Department of Literary Studies and Journalism – Professors Igor Knigin, associate professors Alexandra Rayeva, Tatyana Volokonskaya, Svetlana Artemenko, Senior Lecturer Irina Pokhaznikova, as well as assistants Elizaveta Syagina and Alla Gvozdyuk. Lyudmila Borisova expressed special gratitude to the organiser of the contest, Associate Professor Roman Pavlenko. In addition, the director noted the work of the institute students who joined the jury for the first time, including the prize-winners of The Power of the Word of previous years – Anna Glushkova, Veronica Yakovleva, Diana Kholoimova, Varvara Ananyeva, Alexandra Kamenskaya, Daniil Kolesov, and Maria Polutsygan.

‘All together, of course, we thank not only the author of the idea, but also the chair of the jury of The Power of the Word, Chair of the Department of Literary Studies and Journalism Valerii Prozorov,’ Lyudmila Borisova concluded.

The ceremony was “decorated” with the performances by the winners in the Voice of Russian Classics nomination, namely My Genealogy by Alexander Pushkin (Nikita Matveyenko, an 11th-graders of Secondary School No. 3 named after Vladimir Nikolaevich Shchegolev), a fragment from The Captain's Daughter (Ivan Bogdanov, a 9th-grader of Gymnasium No. 87), Recognition (Roman Apukhtin, a 10th-grader of Secondary School No. 5), What's In My Name... (Daniil Rosenfeld, a 9th-grader of Gymnasium No. 1).

‘We are not parting with you, because we are waiting for eleventh graders this year taking any course of the Institute of Philology and Journalism. We are waiting for everyone else at The Power of the Word in 2025. Stay healthy, have happy experiences, get inspired, and easily overcome any adversity. Long live the sun, avoid the darkness!’ concluding the meeting, Valerii Prozorov noted.

Find the full list of prize-winners here. The photos are in the institute group on VKontakte.