Summary of the Award Ceremony – Presented on June 4, 2021. | BOOKLET

[June 12, 2021, LMGlobal.Org] The 2021 J.U.C. Awards’ 7 winners come from Darüşşafaka Educational Institution, High School Division, İstanbul, Turkey; 1 student from TED College, Ankara; 1 student university-exam prep. in Ankara; 1 student from The Juilliard School, NYC; and 3 students are from Delhi and Purnia District in India.

The 2021 J.U.C.Awards in Media, Research and Writing categories were presented “In Loving Memory of J.U.C” at The Light Millennium’s Virtual Award Ceremony on Friday, June 4, 2021.

Welcome Remarks delivered by Bircan Ünver, M.A. (Mother of J.U.C.) Founder-President, TV Producer & Head Rep. of The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization to the United Nations Department of Global Communications.

Welcoming all the award finalists and guests, Ms. Ünver said that it was a great pride and pleasure to welcome everyone to a project which was born out of a mother’s love and sorrow, who was determined to carry on her son’s exceptional talents by inspiring other young talented minds.

She talked about how J.U.C.’s exceptional talents and curiosity, starting at early ages led him to write stories, book projects and eventually to design tests which measured intelligence. She said that J.U.C.’s creative mind would live on “as long as people around the world continue to take his IQ tests online, and as long as this award ceremony continues…”

Ms. Ünver also delivered a summary based on Hans Sjbergs’s tribute, Author of IQ Tests and Admin of IQExams.Net

Mr. Sjoberg’s Tribute to John U. Culkin (J.U.C) on his IQ TESTS was informative and very sentimental. He said that John Culkin first contacted IQExams.Net in 2016, and actively created tests until the beginning of 2019. According to Mr. Sjöberg, continuously each day around the year, at least one person, some place on our planet, is working hard solving a test created by John Culkin.

In his tribute, Mr. Sjoberg wrote that John’s tests (9 of them are available) and account will be kept on IQexams.net as long as John’s relatives approve it and the brothers Hans Sjöberg & Henrik Nilheim will be able to run the site.

OPENING REMARKS were made by  Mr. Ramu Damodaran, First Chief of the United Nations Academic Impact initiative (2010-21). Mr. Damodaran gave many examples of how J.U.C’s creative mind worked. Mr. Damodaran’s excellent and inspiring speech was very touching, and it lifted up the spirits of all the participants. He mentioned a short-story John wrote titled, “Altifia”, when he was in 4th grade (in 2006). It was about an ancient war, and it ended with a lesson learned, which was: “A heart of steel and a mind of iron can defend you from any weapon!“, in order to succeed, you must have a heart of steel and a mind of iron.” Mr. Damodaran reminded this again to the participants, at the end of his speech, telling the competitors that they placed their mind of iron, and their heart of steel – their courage- at the service of this one world which they belong, which John belonged and which “we” all belong….He also talked about the United Nation charter’s principles, which is based on the dignity and the worth of the human person. He thanked all the award recipients for taking part in this competition in John’s memory.

Next on the program was Alexander & Ares Ecos Brothers’ musical performance (chello +piano) “the Swan from the Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saëns”.

Three short poems of J.U.C.’s childhood, which are titled, “Homeless“, “Nothingness” & “Mr. Virus” were presented by the 14 yrs. old Adem Sarı.

Prof. Gary M. Grossman, School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, U.S.A., talked about the  Evaluation Process of the J.U.C Media, Research, and Writing Awards, and applied 8 criteria on each submission’ toward determining the winners, which are:

1. Creativity 2. Originality 3. Organization 4. Clarity of Expression 5. Quality of Sourcing/Referencing 6. Production Quality 7. Submission Impact 8. Overall Excellence

Further, Prof. Grossman described the awards in each category as in Media, Research and Writing as follow:
1st Place winner: $500.- (x3)
2nd Place winner: $200.- (x3)
3rd Place winner: $100.- (x3)
Encouragement Awards $50.- (x4)

Prof. Grossman expressed his impressions about the good quality of the submissions and conratulated the students for their achievements.

As the Evaluation Committee member, Prof. Grossman invited Honorary Speaker Mr. Davut Ökütçü to deliver his presentation.
Mr. Ökütçü, Past President and Board Member of Darüşşafaka Alumni Association, Advisory Board Member of Darüşşafaka Association; talked about the history of Darussafaka schools, and the pride of having 7 students from Darussafaka becoming finalists in this award program. He also mentioned the similarity between the UN’s Sustainable development Goals of #4 and #5 and the Darussafaka School charter (ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education, promoting lifelong development for all; And gender Equality).

There were 14 finalists, 7 of them from the Darüşşafaka High School in Istanbul Turkey, 2 from Ankara, 4 finalists from India, and 1 from the USA.

Evaluation Committee Member and the Honorary Speaker Prof. Olcay Ünver, Arizona State University, Vice-Chair UN-Water (2018-2020) & Senior Water Advisor, United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization; introduced and announced the winners in the Media Category with a brief interaction with each student.

The submitted themes were on “My Favorite SDG” along with a tribute to Beethoven and Ataturk. The winners in the MEDIA Category are as follows:

1. First Place Winner: ZAINAB BIE, Hight School (17 years old), Delhi, İndia.

2. Second Place Winner: K. CAN SAĞLAM, U. Freshman (21 years old), NYC, USA.

3. Third Place Winner: DEEPAK KUMAR, MBA. Graduate (27 years old), Purnea India. 

Encouragement Award: AHMET YASİR DESTEBAŞI (15 years old), İstanbul, Turkey.


• These 4 videos are available via clicking on this link >

In the same fashion, the winners in the Research Category were introduced and presented by Prof. Edward Foster, President, Pioneer Valley Poetry Productions (PVPP), Poet, Publisher & Retired dean and professor at the Stevens Institute of Technology; As an Evaluation Committee Member, Prof. Foster announced the winners in the Research category as follows:

1. First Place Winner: SEVİNÇ ORMAN, High School (15 years old), İstanbul, Turkey.

2. Second Place Winner: NAZLI EREN, High School (15 years old), İstanbul, Turkey.

3. Third Place Winner: ZEYNEP BAYRAKTAR, High School (15 years old), İstanbul, Turkey .

– Encouragement Award: KAIF ALİ, Delhi, India.

Out of six Evaluation Committee members, Dr. Hande Subaşılar due to traveling in Turkey, couldn’t join the Award ceremony, and five were present including Dr. Aslihan Cakmak, Chairperson, Business and Computer Science Department, Middlesex College, N.J.; and NGO Rep. of The Light Millennium to the United Nations Department of Global Communications. Dr. Cakmak introduced and announced the winners in the Writing Category as follows:

1. First Place Winner: SUDE ÇAPOĞLU, “Moral Compass“ High School (17 years old), Ankara, Turkey.

2. Second Place: BEGÜM SERTTAŞ, “Our Future-Nature“ High School (16 years old), İstanbul, Turkey.

3. Third Place: ESMA NUR SARI, “Finding the Lost“, High School (15 years old), İstanbul, Turkey.

– Encouragement Award: MENEKŞE EZGİ AKYOL, “Madame President“, İstanbul, Turkey.

– Encouragement Award: DİDEM ÖZDEMİR, “Human Rights, Environment, and Armament in the World“, Ankara, Turkey.

The members of the EVALUATION COMMITTEE consisted of: Prof. Edward Foster, Prof. Gary M. Grossman, Prof. Olcay Ünver, Dr. Aslıhan Çakmak, Dr. Hande Subaşılar, Bircan Ünver, M.A. |
Social Media Committee:  Prof. Sebahattin Devecioğlu

Next, Honorary Speaker Prof. Olcay Ünver, Arizona State University, Vice-Chair UN-Water (2018-2020) & Senior Water Advisor, United Nations Food, and Agriculture Organization; focused in his talk on the water security in connection with the Sustainable Development Goal # 6 Water & Sanitation along with, tackling the Covid-19 and future pandemics. Prof. Ünver stated that this was a topic many of the award participants have touched upon in their entries in reference to Sustainable Development Goals, and underlined that fighting Covid-19 requires washing hands with safe water and soap. The fact that this is not available to over 3 billion of the world population, according to the World Health Organization and UNICEF report, is a very scary fact that goes along with food security. Today, the international community has not been able to galvanize the needed investment in this field. Industrial and agricultural pollution is making treating water to safety standards and access to safe water more difficult. According to the UN analysis, 94 percent of the countries that UN surveyed said that they had plans to deliver safe water and sanitation to their people. However, the same countries said that only 15 percent of them have the funds or the human capacity that is needed to implement these plans. And that is just another scary fact. According to some estimates, providing access to safe water could cost about 420 billion US dollars for the next 10 years. That may sound like a lot of money, but it is actually 0.5 percent of the global domestic product, the GDP. Prof. Ünver said that lack of water security anywhere becomes everyone’s problem; followed by food security, and that Covid-19 has revealed the big vulnerabilities around the world.
Prof. Ünver emphasized that strengthening water security is essential in combating Covid-19 and future pandemics, and concluded his speech with the following line: “SDG-6 is able and guides us to provide safe and sanitation water to everyone without leaving anyone behind.”

Bircan Ünver presented one of the certificates for the 1st place and provided information on each image, symbol, and the logo of the J.U.C. Awards to all, which as follows: The logo of the J.U.C. Awards is, the last design that J.U.C. did and shared with his family on Dec. 17, or the 18th, 2019, which turned out to be the symbol and logo of the J.U.C. Awards. The one on the top left corner of the certificate and its center as if “geometrically, a sand-clock in yellow and red color, J.U.C. himself indicated that it is his e-signature. What about the two birds? His mother explained that J.U.C. loved the birds. At one point, they had 7 birds at home and he mostly left them out of the cage. The birds at home were his close company. She elaborated further that sometimes at 2:00 a.m., J.U.C. woke her up and they looked for one of the missing birds together.

Before concluding the section of the Award Ceremony, she called on J.U.C’s brother Barış Ünver who lives in New York City, to make a short remark, honoring his brother.
As a closing round, honorary speakers, invited guests including from Darüşşafaka Educational Institution, Alumni of Darüşşafaka, Ambassador Ertuğrul Apakan, and members of the Evaluation Committee, congratulated the winners and expressed that they were pleased to be part of this meaningful J.U.C. Award Ceremony and were willing to support the next one.

Ms. Ünver concluded this section with an indication that each of the award recipients will receive his/her certificate via email. 

The program continued with the 2nd viewing of the winning media project Korkmaz Can Sağlam, “A Tribute to Beethoven and Atatürk”; followed by the closing remarks by the creator of the Award program and the program’s host Ms. Ünver. Further, she announced that the next one will be in 2023, which will include presenting two book projects based on received submissions for the first award program. In that context, she referred to the Booklet. 

The Light Millennium received 132 registrations, and the J.U.C. Virtual Awards Ceremony web-streamed through Facebook@lightmillennium/Live, which received 241 views (as of June 12, 2021).

All in all, the very first 2021 J.U.C. Awards in Media, Research and Writing delivered successfully, which received wonderful submissions along with contributions, support, and feedback. In this line, Mr. Damodaran wished the next one to be presented in a physical environment. As concluding of the virtual Award Ceremony, attending the committee members, students, and guests expressed their support in being a part of it and willing to continue to support it.

_ . _

CERTIFICATES OF THE 1st PLACE IN MEDIA, RESEARCH AND WRITING CATEGORY

We THANK all the below listed names for each and everyone’s contributions in the J.U.C. Awards,
which made possible for us to convey and deliver it:

Special Thanks to Ilknur BORAY, Secretary of Ataturk Society of America, for her support in edits of the program summary.

The J.U.C. Award: Welcome Remarks

DARÜŞŞAFAKA – EQUALOPPORTUNITY IN EDUCATION Since 1863 (pdf)
Presented by Davut ÖKÜTÇÜ

A TRIBUTE: JOHN U. CULKIN’S WORK WITH PSYCHOMETRIC TESTS
A Tribute by Hans SJÖBERG, Author, IQ Tests & Admin, IQExams.Net

On WATER SECURITY
Talking points by Prof. Olcay ÜNVER

The received eligible submissions of the 2021 J.U.C. Awards in Media, Research and Writing Categories are available at: 
https://www.lmglobal.org/2021/05/12/2021-jucawards-submission-list-the-2021-j-u-c-media-research-writing-awards/

Submissions in MEDIA: The 2021 J.U.C. AWARDS

2021 Booklet with Bios of the Students and the Speakers

WE HAVE THE WINNERS… THE 2021 J.U.C. MEDIA, RESEARCH AND WRITING AWARDS

Coverage in the Turkish Media:

News in Turkish in Turkish Media • “Darüşşafakalı öğrenciler ABD’den 7 ödül birden aldı“

https://www.dha.com.tr/egitim/darussafaka-ogrencileri-abdden-7-odul-ile-dondu/haber-1830798

https://www.haberhurriyeti.com/haber/7272744/darussafakali-ogrenciler-abdden-7-odul-birden-aldi#

https://abcgazetesi.com/abdden-7-odul-ile-donen-darussafaka-ogrencileri-391281

https://www.sondakika.com/haber/haber-darussafaka-ogrencileri-abd-den-7-odul-ile-dondu-14180686/

https://www.timeturk.com/egitim/darussafaka-ogrencileri-abd-den-7-odul-ile-dondu/haber-1688521

https://www.artukluhaber.net/haber/darussafakali_ogrencilere_abdden_7_odul_-58909.html?m=1

https://www.alfahaberajansi.com/foto/7260419/darussafaka-yine-gogus-kabartti-abdden-7-odul-ile-birlikte-dondu

https://hibya.com/darussafakali-ogrencilere-abdden-7-odul-6610.html

Darüşşafaka öğrencileri ABD’den “7 ödül” ile döndü

https://haberiara.com/en/darussafakali-ogrencilere-abdden-7-odul

• Sude Çapoglu – 1st Place in Writing Category – Links of the Coverage in the Turkish Media with respect to the J.U.C. Media, Research and Writing Awards: 

https://www.hurriyet.com.tr/yazarlar/yalcin-bayer/marmara-denizini-kurtarma-plani-41827312

https://www.tedankara.k12.tr/index.php/kampuste-yasam/haberler/item/4394-basarili-bir-kizimiz-daha

https://www.geyve.com/sude-capoglu-amerika-da-1-oldu/2722/

https://www.facebook.com/TEDAnkaraKoleji1931/posts/2373353876141698

https://nitter.fiat-tux.fr/TEDAnkara

https://ekonomie.net/marmara-denizini-kurtarma-plani-yalcin-bayer/

https://medyabar.com/haber/7268942/sude-capoglu-amerikada-1-oldu

Sude Çapoğlu, Amerika’da 1. oldu.

Lise öğrencimiz Sude Çapoğlu; New York, ABD merkezli BM Küresel İletişim Departmanı ile ilişkili The Light Millennium Organization'ın düzenlediği "2021 J.U.C Media, Research & Writing Awards" yarışmasında yazı dalında birincilik kazandı. https://t.co/PFmMtz4Mfd pic.twitter.com/JZfMXk1y2l

— TED Ankara Koleji (@TEDAnkara) June 8, 2021

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