On May 17, in the assembly hall of Bldg. 10, there took place the awarding ceremony of prize-winners of the 12th contest for creatively gifted high school students of Saratov region and other Russian regions of Russia – The Power of the Word. The competition is held by the Institute of Philology and Journalism of SSU under the patronage of Governor of Saratov Region Roman Busargin. The initiator and inspirer of the contest is Honoured Scientist of the Russian Federation, Scientific Supervisor of the Institute of Philology and Journalism, Professor Valerii Prozorov.

Valery Vladimirovich welcomed schoolchildren, their parents and mentors: "For the twelfth year in a row, the Institute of Philology and Journalism of SSU holds a nationally known large representative competition for humanities-oriented high school students "The Power of the Word". Among the most important tasks of the contest is a constant, creatively active approach to understanding what is the power of the word, what is the hypnotic power of the word over us, what is this greatest gift that we possess by right of our involvement in the human race. Today, presenting the diplomas, we dedicate you to our common cause. We invite you to our university house with every diploma. A special word of heartfelt gratitude to your teachers, mentors, parents, and everyone who helped you find your way to university."

In his welcoming speech, SSU Rector, Professor Aleksei Chumachenko, noted: "We should all understand that the university pays special attention to the training of specialists who would be able to be responsible for their words. I would like to encourage young people who are acquiring word skills to ensure that the deep meaning of the concepts of "decency" and "patriotism" is not forgotten. The most important thing is to be sincere and honest both in words and deeds."

Minister of Information and Mass Communications of the Saratov Region A.V. Kolokolov said: "Your competition has already become a kind of brand of the Saratov region, the brand of the Saratov University, of which I am a graduate. I hope that this glorious and good tradition will be continued. I wish creative, professional and personal success to the participants. Many thanks to your teachers and parents."

Alexander Valeryevich presented diplomas to the winners of the Journalistic Debut nomination and awarded a special diploma to the winner in this nomination, a student of the 10th grade of the Medical and Biological Lyceum Liya Yemelyanova.

A.F. Fedorov, Deputy Minister of Education, Chairman of the Committee for State Control and Supervision in the Field of Education, awarded letters of thanks from the Ministry of Education of the Saratov region to teachers who prepared the students-winners and prize–winners of the competition.

Awarding diplomas to the winners of the competition, Director of the Institute of Philology and Journalism Lyudmila Borisova stressed: "Our university has many glorious traditions. Over the years of the existence of the "Power of the Word", this competition has become another good tradition, which is known not only in the city, in the region, but also in other regions of our country. I want you to love our university as much as we all love it."

Lyudmila Sergeevna thanked the enthusiastic teachers who took an active part in organizing and conducting the competition: Professor of the Department of Literary Studies and Journalism Igor Knigin, Professor of the Department of Russian and World Literatures Gulnara Altynbayeva, as well as the staff of the Department of Literary Studies and Journalism: associate professors Alexandra Rayeva, Tatyana Volokonskaya, Svetlana Artemenko, Julia Anikeyeva, Kirill Rozanov, Roman Pavlenko, and assistants Elizaveta Syagina and Alla Gvozdyuk. L.S. Borisova expressed special words of gratitude to the chairman of the jury – V.V. Prozorov.

Head of Priority Projects and Programmes, SSU, Professor Elena Yelina, addressed the participants of the ceremony: ""Words are becoming a habit with us before the most important thing, they are getting old like a dress." These are the lines of Vladimir Mayakovsky. Indeed, a lot of words get worn out, get old, we pronounce them too often, we are inattentive to them, we sometimes use them out of business, we treat them lightly and frivolously. When we begin to treat the word with understanding, we begin to see how the word enters into a dialogue with us, how the word opens up to us with new facets, how its inner form opens up, then what Mayakovsky wrote about happens: "I want to make you shine anew." Do not forget today, when you return to your schools and to your home, to say a huge thank you to the teachers and parents, because your victory today is also their victory. The word "thank you" is a magic word, it should also be constantly in our arsenal." Elena Genrikhovna wished every student to become a student of Saratov University.

The audience warmly welcomed the performances of the winners and prize-winners in the nomination "Voice of Russian classics". A.S. Pushkin's poems "Recognition" (10th grade student of Lyceum No. 62 Andrey Krasenko), N.S. Gumilev's "Magic Violin" (9th grade student of school No. 2 Alexander Plotnikov) and A.P. Chekhov's story "Angry Boy" (7th grade student of Lyceum No. 36 Polina Grishko) were performed.

Concluding the ceremony, V.V. Prozorov told about the initiative born in the IFIZH SSU and directly related to the upcoming 225th anniversary of the birth of A.S. Pushkin: "We want to declare the next academic year at the Institute Pushkin and dedicate our meetings, open classes, evenings, festivals, contests, Olympiad tasks to the great poet! I think this initiative will be taken up by our teachers of literature. And who knows, maybe our whole year 2024 on the scale of "all great Russia" will also be proclaimed Pushkin!"

You can find the full list of prize-winners here and the photo report here.