UCCLF, January 3, 2011
Valued at $500, the High School Civil Liberties Award is given to the high school student who submitted the highest-quality research essay based on a Holodomor theme, an initiative undertaken in recognition of Ukraine’s Famine-Genocide of 1932-33.This year’s winner is Grade 12 IB student, Lesia Kinach of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, whose essay was among numerous submissions which were adjudicated by the award selection committee, which included Ludmilla Voitkovska, Associate Professor at the Department of English, University of Saskatchewan. Lesia’s paper is deemed to have been well researched, convincingly argued and powerfully written, and Lesia demonstrated good analytical skills.
The UCCLF would like to congratulate Lesia and all the students who submitted an essay. Each participant in this writing competition will be awarded a copy of Into Auschwitz, For Ukraine by Stefan Petelycky for their efforts.
For the first time since its introduction, the Civil Liberties Opinion-Editorial Award is given to two students — Larissa Volinets Schieven of Toronto and Roman Storoshchuk of Calgary. This award is given to the high school or post-secondary student who had their opinion-editorial published in a major Canadian newspaper. Larissa is in her third year of pursuing a Bachelor of Journalism degree at Carleton University in Ottawa. Roman is also a third year student, pursuing a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Philosophy, at the University of Calgary.
Larissa’s op-ed, entitled “Revoke writer’s undeserved Pulitzer”, appeared in the Nov. 25, 2010 edition of Saskatoon’s The StarPhoenix, while Roman’s op-ed, entitled “Ukrainian famine is a genocide largely unrecognized”, appeared in the Nov. 27, 2010 edition of the Calgary Herald.
The UCCLF would also like to congratulate both Larissa and Roman for their participation in this writing competition. Each winner will receive a $1,000 prize for their efforts.