20.04.2023.

Rewards Presented to Winners of “Our Soldier, our Hero” Contest

Today, winners of the contest “Our Soldier, our Hero” received their rewards in the Great War Hall of the Old General Staff. The primary school pupils whose works won the contest received the rewards from Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources Siniša Radović and Assistant Minister in the Sector for Preschool and Primary Education in the Ministry of Education Milan Pašić PhD.

The topic of this year’s contest was “Women in the Serbian Armed Forces; the heroines of the past, present and future times”, and the contest categories were the Serbian language, Art and Technics and Technologies.

Assistant Minister Radović greeted the present on behalf of the minister of defence and chief of General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces underlying that it was one of beautiful events to mark the upcoming Serbian Armed Forces Day.

- The topic of the contest are the women in the armed forces, the heroines, and I believe that these girls here and their teachers are also true heroines because they are here with us and because they wrote, drew, and presented that historic component. Our wives, mothers, and sisters and the heroines every single day. When we talk about this topic, the women heroines, we usually think about wars that truly did bring to the surface the heroines esteemed by the whole world, to whom the whole world bowed. The freedom-loving world still bows to those everlasting feats, and I believe that you have confirmed it through your works. I believe that this will inspire you in the future, and it will inspire all our young generations, for you are our future - said the assistant minister of defence.

He expressed his hope that the following contest would be an opportunity for children to find their inspiration and participate.

- I hope that in the years to come both you, and the children that are yet to come, will find inspiration, whatever the topic, and write about it, draw, speak and give a new impulse to others who have not taken part in such an activity. The Ministry of Defence is pleased with the results achieved in this field, and in other fields collaborating with the Ministry of Education - Assistant Minister Radović said.

Assistant Minister in the Sector for Preschool and Primary Education in the Ministry of Education Milan Pašić PhD said that the two ministries had organised for the third time in a row the contest “Our Soldier, Our Hero” with a wish to develop the cooperation between the two ministries, which had been established long time ago.

- All the activities are primarily grounded on the need to pay due respect to the youngest school age generation by encouraging them to think about the history of their country and high moral values that cherish and exalt the tradition of the people to which they belong. The topic of the contest is different each year, and this year the accent is placed on the heroism of women in the history of the Serbian people. The topic of the contest encouraged the pupils to use their own creativity and through word, artistic expression, technical and technological knowledge and skills, give their own creative contribution to the knowledge of history, freedom-loving traditions of our people - Pašić said.

Emilija Pešić from Aleksinac received the reward in the category technics and technology and she does not hide her satisfaction with the participation in the contest.

- We came to an idea to merge the Serbian language and history because Milunka Savić was one of our greatest heroines and we wanted to present her as someone who has marked our history and our country - said Emilija.

Emilija’s teacher of Informatics and Computer Science Miloš Petrović commented that the contest organisation was at a very high level and that the children had enjoyed it.

- The children gained new knowledge in technics and technology, and history at the same time. We are glad that we won this place and we are definitely coming here next year - said teacher Petrović.

Anđela Stanisavljević won the award in the category of artistic work by having drawn the monument to Milunka Savić. Her teacher Violeta Stanković from Surdulica says that this has been the second year for her class to participate in this contest.

- We are thrilled with the contest, and we have had success, so that is why the entire class always participates. Everyone gladly accept the call and the parents give their consent. Last year, we won the first place, and this year this girl has won the second place for her artistic work - teacher Stanković stated.

In the category for the best literary work for the age group from the first to fourth grade of the primary school, the first place was won by Nikolina Bunčić, a fourth grade pupil of the primary school “Saint Sava”, and teacher Milica Džambić from branch class Divoš from Sremska Mitrovica. The second place went to Katarina Ivanović fourth grade pupil of the primary school “Vuk Karadžić” from Knjaževac and teacher Dijana Milovanović.

In the age category from the fifth to eight grade pupils, the first place for the literary work went to Anđela Jovanović, eight-grade pupil from the primary school “Draža Marković Rođa” from Smoljinac. The second place went to Pavle Vilček, seventh grade pupil of the primary school “Jovan Jovanović Zmaj” from Aleksinački Rudnik and teacher Marija Petrović, while the third place took Andrej Jović, eight-grade pupil from the primary school “Branko Radičević” from Vranje.

In the category of artistic work in the age group from the first to fourth grade of the primary school, Milica Tomić, fourth grade pupil of the primary school “Nikola Tesla” from Rakovica and teacher Goran Maksimović, won the first place. The second best work was by Anđela Stanisavljević, third grade pupil of the primary school “Vuk Karadžić” from Surdulica and teacher Violeta Stanković. The third place went to Staša Grujović, first grade pupil of the primary school “Saint Sava” from Niš.

The best artistic work in the age group from the fifth to eight grade was the creation of Lija Naomi Caran, eight-grade pupil of the primary school “Saint George” from Uzdin. The second place was won by a fifth grade pupil Nikolina Ilić from the primary school “14th October” from Belgrade and teacher Nadica Nedeljković, whil the third place went to Mina Mitić, fifth grade pupil from the primary school “17th October” from Jagodina.

In the category technics and technology, the reward for the best work in the lower grades age group went to Ivona Kitić, second grade pupil of the primary school “Ljupče Nikolić” from Aleksinac and teacher Nataša Bogdanović. Emilija Pešić, eight-grade pupil of the primary school “Vuk Karadžić” from Žitkovac, Aleksinac and teachers Miloš Petrović and Branka Videnović, produced the best work in the said category in the age group from the fifth to eight grade. The second place went to Anđela Vuksanović, seventh grade pupil of the primary school “Jovan Jovanović Zmaj” from Kruševac and teacher Sanja Mitrović, while the third place went to Nikola Vujaković, eight-grade pupil from the primary school “Vuk Karadžić” from Novi Sad.

A special reward for invested work and expressed creativity went to Anđela Svirčević, fifth grade pupil of the primary school “Saint Sava” branch class Divoš from Sremska Mitrovica.

The first prise for the winners of the contest is a free seven-day long stay in vacation and recreation facilities of the Ministry of Defence and Serbian Armed Forces of the Military Establishment “Tara”. Reward for the second place is a free seven-day long stay in Vrnjačka Banja, while the winners of the third place received books.