May 2, 2023.- The Government delegate in Castilla y León, Virginia Barcones, and the Minister of Education of the Junta de Castilla y León, Rocío Lucas, presented this morning the prizes for the best mini-film and the best comic of the II literary contest of International Women's Day organized by the Government Delegation and the Ministry. This contest aims for boys and girls and young people to work and think about respect for gender equality so that it is seen as what it is, something normal and natural.
This year the contest was convened with the theme "for an inclusive digital world: Innovation and technology for gender equality" in order for the papers presented to deal with "innovation, technological change and education in the digital age as new tools to achieve gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls in any family, work and school context".
In total, 237 works have been submitted to this contest, of which 164 belonged to the contest of mini-stories and 73, to the contest of comics. It is the case that the majority of girls participated in the story contest (104) and the most active boys participated in the comic contest (42). They study in 55 educational centers in the nine provinces of Castilla y León.
MINICUENTS
In Category A, for junior students, for fifth and sixth grade students, the first prize has been won by the 6th grade student, Lara García Martín, from the CEIP Nuestra Señora de la Piedad, from Herrera de Pisuerga (Palencia) for the story entitled “The History of Sira”.
The second prize went to the 6th grade student, Marc Rengel Casquero, of the CEIP San Mateo de Salamanca.
And the third prize has been awarded to the student of 6th Primary, Paula Izquierdo Rodríguez, of the CEIP Río Alarzón, of Burgos for the minicuent “Luna. If you can think about it, you can think about it.”
COMICS
In Category B, of comics, in which students from ESO, Baccalaureate and Vocational Training could participate, the first prize has been awarded to Sofía Rodríguez de Paz, a 3º ESO student from Colegio la Asunción, in León, for the comic “Hasta el Infinito y más alla”.
The second prize went to Iris Mihaela Negru, a 1st year ESO student from the IES Ribera de Castilla in Valladolid, for the comic “Tejendo Redes”.
And the third prize went to the 2nd Baccalaureate student, Inés Antón Pino, of the IES Claudio Moyano, of Zamora for the comic “A Portal to a Better Society”.
The first prize in each modality consists of a tablet and books for each winner, along with the gift of a Menina for the educational center and diploma of participation. The winners of the second and third awards have received wireless headphones and books along with a diploma of participation.
THE WINNING JOBS
The mini-winner of the first prize talks about Sira, a twelve-year-old girl who lived in Iraq during wartime. Thanks to an NGO she and her family managed to escape the bombs, poverty and hunger. That’s how they got to Herrera de Pisuerga and Sira started going to the same school that the author of the story goes to. It was not easy because of the language and even because of the rejection it provoked.
But Sira, thanks to a subject of digital technology (TIC-STEAM) began to stand out, to be valued and to make friends. And also, he managed to help the colleagues he had left in Iraq by sending them videos of what was being done in the school of Herrera de Pisuerga. Over time, Sira was professionally dedicated to new technologies and won many awards. She also collaborated on equality issues with the NGO that helped her to leave Iraq. “A woman can achieve great things if she proposes it.” With this phrase Lara ends the winning story.
With regard to the comic, “To infinity and beyond”, the Leonese Sofía Rodríguez tells how Elena pursued her dream of being an astronaut since she was a child, despite the mockery of her classmates. Her parents always encouraged her to fight for what she wanted. At the university they looked at her with suspicion because there were not many women studying physics and mathematics. But he graduated with the best grades of the course.
After several attempts and a lot of effort, she was admitted to NASA's astronaut training program. Already in Washington, the members of the Space 2023 program, all men, looked at her with some scepticism. But with a lot of work and sacrifice, Elena got a place in the mission and flew into space.
EDUCATE ON EQUALITY
Virginia Barcones has highlighted that the school has the responsibility to educate in egalitarian principles, without distinction between boys and girls: “We are all equal in rights and duties. Everything is educable and from schools and also from family settings we have to teach them to reject attitudes that do not contribute to equality.”
For the delegate of the Government “there are behaviors so internalized that it is difficult to identify them. They are phrases, gestures, ways of acting that boys and girls see at home, on the street, as something normal. We have to be aware of what they are to banish them. And we also have to set an example. It’s not about saying one thing and doing something different.”
Barcones has linked this awareness to the promotion of critical thinking, something that can be done in classrooms. “It’s good,” she said, “to make them think with questions related to male chauvinistic behaviors so that they are able to perceive what gender equality really is and value it as fair, necessary and positive.”
The representative of the Government of Spain in Castilla y León added that it is also very important that boys and girls, that young people, have “positive references. The best example is that the winning comic, whose author is Leonese, has as protagonist a girl astronaut from León. I can only think that the creator of this story had in mind the example of Sara, the molecular biologist and astronaut from León selected by the European Space Agency.”
Barcones believes it is essential “to work with them from a young age so that they understand what diversity, tolerance and respect for the person is, regardless of their sex. Every person is unique and has the same rights as everyone else.”
“With this contest,” concluded the delegate, “we wanted to do our bit to overcome this critical awareness, so that they face a blank page, think about equality and translate these ideas into the wonderful works they have presented.”
JURY
The jury that has awarded the prizes has been formed by Rocío López Muñoz, coordinator of Violence on Women. Santiago Esteban Frades, Director of the High Inspection Area of Education (AIE) and María Nieves Gómez Muñoz, High Inspector of Education of the AIE, all three, by the Government Delegation in Castilla y León
Also, by Marta del Pozo Pérez, director of the Center for Women's Studies of the University of Salamanca.
Alicia Ortega de la Calle, head of the Service of Quality, Evaluation and Educational Programs and Julia Merino García, teaching technical advisor of this Service dependent on the General Direction of Innovation and Teacher Training.
Victoria Casado Varela, head of the Equality Promotion Service of the General Directorate of Women.
And Soledad Carnicer Arribas, head of the Section of Castilian and Leonese Studies Library of Castilla y León.