IMMEDIATE MEDIA RELEASE – JUNE 1, 2023, New York
Organization: LMGlobal.Org
Email: JUCAwards(a)lightmillennium.org
Website: www.lmglobal.org

LMGLOBAL.ORG PROUDLY ANNOUNCES THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 J.U.C. MEDIA, RESEARCH & WRITING AWARDS

With the addition of two special categories this year dedicated to:
The 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye and the United Nations’ Water Action Decade (2018-2028) (#UNGA Resolution #71/222).

Media Release (pdf – Updated on June 2, 2023) | Flier (pdf) | Flier (png) (Flier is updated.)
SAVE THE DATE: The Virtual Award Ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, 2023

Time Zones: 11:00 a.m. EST (USA/Canada) | 16:00 Cameroon17:00 Chad | 18:00 Türkiye | 20:30 India & Sri Lanka | 20:45 Nepal
Please REGISTER in advance for this meeting:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtdOCqrDwuHdCGUgob_nydy8SoK5oP90J-

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

[LMGlobal.Org, June 1, 2023, New York] The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization proudly announces the Winners of the 2023 J.U.C. Awards in Media, Research, and Writing Categories. This is the second time this bi-annual international competition was held. #JUCAwards2023 #JUCMRWA #JUCAwards

In the 2023 J.U.C. Awards’ CALL to the international high school students, received applications from the following countries (alphabetic order): Cameron, Chad, India (Bokara, Chennai, Tamul Nadi), Nepal, Nigeria, Sri Lanka, Türkiye (Adana, Ankara, Istanbul). 

The high schools that encouraged and supported their students’ participation are: Darüşşafaka Society “Equal Opportunity in Education since 1863” Istanbul, Türkiye; Whyteleafe Performing Arts Academy (Kohuwala, Sri Lanka); St. Paul’s Modern School, Bokara Thermal, India.

Further, in order to get the word out to a diverse audience of participants, the LMGlobal.Org collaborated with civil society organizations, in particular, in India, Nepal, and Chad such as:
Smile4Millions (India), The Institution of Green Engineers | IGEN (India), Forlamy Dreams Association | FDA (Chad); and also Atatürk Society of America (USA), in connection with the Writing/Türkiye100 Category.

Although the 2023 J.U.C. Awards aimed to reach out to both the U.S.-based and international high schools, there was no entry from the US. This created a pool of applicants whose native languages are not English. As a result, this year, all participating essays as well as research, and media-based projects are written and produced by students who use English as a second language.

This year, while the majority of submissions were for the Writing/General Category, the Media Category received the least number of submissions. 

The 2023 J.U.C. Awards Evaluation Committee (E.C.) consists of (9) members. The E.C. agreed on an “Evaluation Criteria” form, which has been used in the evaluation of all submissions.

Further, there are two new categories added to this year’s competition: the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye entitled #Türkiye100, along with a category entitled #WaterAction, in support of the United Nations’ Water Action Decade (2018-2028) Agenda. Additionally, during the evaluation process, two new awards were added to the ones already announced, all of which are to be presented during the upcoming Virtual Award Ceremony on June 17, 2023. One of these additional awards will be given by the Atatürk Society of America for the Writing-General/Türkiye100 Category; and the second one by the LMGlobal.Org to the best submission received from Nepal. With these additions, a total seventeen awards will be presented at the awards ceremony.

The LMGlobal.Org posted all the eligible submissions with a submission code under each related submitted category on May 7, 2023. This list will be updated with the results, following the Award Ceremony on June 17, 2023.

As a bi-annual international program of the LMGlobal.Org, the J.U.C. Awards firstly aims at encouraging student learning, research and creativity. It also encourages student engagement with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals and projects working toward those goals. Finally, it works toward fostering international collaborations and partnerships, for which the collaborations of 2023 are a good example. The 2023 Awards were particularly targeted to soliciting submissions from international high school students who study English as a second language. This goal was added to the Guidelines at an informative feedback meeting, hosted by Ms. Sude Capoglu on May 20, 2022. Ms. Capoglu is the First Place recipient in the Writing Category, announced on June 4, 2021.

Four volunteer student coordinators contributed to the outreach efforts of the 2023 J.U.C. Awards. They are Sude Çapoğlu, Türkiye; Student Coordinator, 2021 First Place Recipient in Writing category; Deepak Kumar, India Coordinator, LMGlobal.Org’s Representative in India (2021, Third Place recipient in Media category); Manoj Ram, India Coordinator with Deepak Kumar; and Lyonga Jewis, Cameroon, LMGlobal.Org’s Representative in Cameroon & Outreach Coordinator.

The 2023 Evaluation Committee consisted of nine (9) members who are predominantly U.S.-based professors and academicians. The Committee is chaired by Ambassador Rodrigo A. Carazo of Costa Rica to the United Nations (2018-2022), and member of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva (2023).  

The Members of the 2023 Evaluation Committee are Prof. Olcay Ünver, Professor of Practice, Polytechnic Sch ERM Prgm., Senior Global Futures Scientist, and Scholars Affiliate, Melikian Center at Arizona State University; Prof. Sibel Erol, Clinical Professor, Department of Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies New York University; Prof. Edward Foster, Professor of History and Associate Dean for Administration in the College of Arts and Letters at the Stevens Institute of Technology (Retired); Prof. Gunay Smith, Professor of Biological and Chemical Sciences at Southside Virginia Community College (Retired); Prof. Gary M. Grossman, Arizona State University (Retired); Hande Subasilar, Ph.D., Adj. Assistant Professor, Caldwell University; Mildred VanBergen, Ph.D., Director of Academic Support Services for the Long Island location of Empire State University; and Bircan Ünver, M.A., Author of the project and Director, LMGlobal.Org.
 Contributors to the Committee: Demet Demirkaya, Board Member, LMGlobal.Org (Outreach); Mustafa Alp Can (Certificates)

The Virtual Award Ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, 2023 at 12:00 EST (United States & Canada).

Link to REGISTER:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtdOCqrDwuHdCGUgob_nydy8SoK5oP90J-

Media Release (pdf – Updated on June 2, 2023) | Flier (pdf)

We are revealing the winners in all above mentioned categories:
THE WINNERS OF THE 2023 J.U.C. AWARDS ARE…

Definition of the Awards: Overall Excellence is for $500.-
The First Place for each category is $300.-
The Second Place for each category is $200.-
The Third Place for each category is $100.-
This year’s two Special Awards are:
The first one for the 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Türkiye to be presented by the
Atatürk Society of America is $300.-
The second Special Award for Nepal by LMGlobal.Org is $100.-

OVERALL EXCELLENCE Goes to… #Türkiye100

Overall Excellence: Mr. MUHAMMET ALİ TURAN
Writing#7/Turkiye100 – “Same Mindset in Different Centuries”
Şehit Velit Bekdaş Anatolian High School, Ankara, Türkiye

Category: WRITING / GENERAL Y – SHORT STORY #Writing

First Place: Mr. EREN KORUYAN
WG#4: “Dedicated To All Those Striving For Freedom” (Short Story)
Theme: Ancient Civilizations
Darüşşafaka High School, Istanbul, Türkiye

Second Place: Ms. RANEESHA JAYARATNE
WG#9 – Theme: “If you became the President of the World…”
Whyteleafe Performing Arts Academy, Sri Lanka

Third Place: Ms. ZEYNEP ÖZDEMİR
W15/G: “A Boarding School in Space” (Short Story)
Darüşşafaka High School, Istanbul, Türkiye

SPECIAL AWARD FOR NEPAL (Writing/General)

Special Award: Mr. MANDIP RAM KUMAR
W5/G: “Equality”
Shree Nepal Rastriya National School, Mahuwan, Parsa, Nepal

Category: WRITING/Türkiye100Dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Republic of Türkiye(29 October 1923 – 29 October 2023) #Türkiye100

First Place: Ms. DURU BÜYÜKBAŞARAN
W1/TR100: “Peace at Home, Peace in the World”
Ankara University Developmental Foundation Private Anatolian High School (ANKÜ), Ankara, Türkiye

Second Place: Mr. BATURALP ASLAN
WTR#2: “Naiveté of Vision”
TED Ankara College Foundation Private High School, Ankara, Türkiye

Third Place: Ms. HAMİDE BEGÜM YILDIZ
WTR#5: “A Look at the Treatment of Turkish Women Throughout the Years”
Darüşşafaka High School, Istanbul, Türkiye

SPECIAL AWARD BY ATATURK SOCIETY OF AMERICA
For the 100th Anniversary of Republic of Türkiye

Special Award: Ms. ELİF YILMAZ
W#3/TR100 – “The 100th Anniversary of the Republic of Turkey”
Darüşşafaka High School, Istanbul, Türkiye

Category: RESEARCH #Research

First Place: Ms. SİMAY YÜKSEL
R#5 Title: “Stem Cells: A Promising Hope for the Future”
Research Theme: What are your visions and expectations for the next wave of scientific achievements? (STEM Cell)
TED College, Ankara, Türkiye

Second Place: Ms. JYOTI KUMARI
R#2: “Covid-19, A Disastrous Invention of the 21st Century”
St. Paul’s Modern School, Bokaro Thermal, Bokaro, Jharkhand, India

Third Place: Mr. S. PERINBA ATHIBAN
R#4 – “Artificial Intelligence: The Shining Star of Modern Technology”
Research Theme: Is Artificial Intelligence Angel or Demon
XII Standard in Velammal Vidyalaya, Ayanambakkam, Chennai, India

Category: WATER ACTION AWARDS #WaterAction

First Place: Ms. EMİNE KARAMAN
WAA3 (W3/G): “Water as a Source of Life” (Short Story)
Daruşşafaka High School, Istanbul, Türkiye

Second Place: Ms. FATIME ABAKAR OUSMANE
WAA1: “Water For All”
Féminin High School level 1ere Scientific from Ndjamena, Chad

Third Place: Mr. NJIKENG TEBONG-JUNIOR
WAA#2: “Stop Deforestation in connection with Groundwater”
St. Theresa collages Molyko Buea, Cameroon

Category: MEDIA #Media

First Place: Ms. KAVISHA AMANDI JAYARATHNE
M1: “See the Human” (Gender Equality)
Whyteleafe Performing Arts Academy, Sri Lanka

Second Place: Ms. R.A. RUKHSHANA
M2: “My Favorite SDG#7”
Velammal Vidyalaya, CBSE, Chennai, India

# # #

SAVE THE DATE
The Virtual Award Ceremony is scheduled for Saturday, June 17, 2023
Time Zones: 11:00 a.m. EST (USA/Canada) | 16:00 Cameroon17:00 Chad | 18:00 Türkiye | 20:30 India & Sri Lanka | 20:45 Nepal
Please REGISTER in advance for this meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZMtdOCqrDwuHdCGUgob_nydy8SoK5oP90J-
After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Related Links:

Save the Date for the 2023 Virtual Award Ceremony:
https://www.lmglobal.org/2023/05/14/save-the-date-the-2023-j-u-c-awards-ceremony-for-june-17-virtual/
The List of the Eligible Submissions (May 7, 2023):
https://www.lmglobal.org/2023/05/07/the-list-of-the-received-submissions-to-the-2023-j-u-c-awards/Water Action Decade: https://sdgs.un.org/topics/water-and-sanitation/wateractiondecade#:~:text=In%20its%20resolution%2071%2F222,response%20to%20the%20ambitious%202030
2022: Informative Meeting on the 2023 J.U.C. Awards – Live Webs-streamed on May 22, 2023 – Video: https://vimeo.com/746768861
Guidelines of the 2023:
https://www.lmglobal.org/2022/04/24/the-2023-j-u-c-media-research-and-writing-awards-
concept-definition-timeline-and-guideline/
2021: The Winners Are… The 2021 J.U.C. Award Are Presented…
https://www.lmglobal.org/2021/06/12/the-winners-are-the-2021-juc-awards-presented/
2020 Initial Introductory Booklet of the J.U.C. Awards:
https://www.lightmillennium.org/juc-awards/concept-definition-timeline-quideline-nd-potential-scholarship.pdf
Story of the “J.U.C. M-R-W-A” Awards
https://lightmillennium.org/juc-awards/juc-media-research-writing-awards-story.pdf

Hashtags: JUCAwards2023 | #JUCMRWA | #JUCAwards | #LMGlobalOrg | #Media | #Research | #Writing | #TR100 | |#Türkiye100 | #WaterAction | #UNWithCivilSociety

Organized and Presented by
The Light Millennium, Charitable Global Human Advancement Organization | LMGlobal.Org (2001, New York) – www.lmglobal.org | www.lightmillennium.org