Among the best in the field

      On March 19, the final of the regional competition "Best YID Squad" took place in the capital of the Volga region, organized by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, the Nizhny Novgorod Center for the Development of Child and Youth Education "Sphere" in collaboration with the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia for the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Our district was represented at the competition by young traffic inspectors from the "Forsazh" squad, operating at the Center for the Development of Children's and Youth Creativity under the guidance of methodologist Elena Antipova and additional education teacher Kira Shkileva. "We strive to regularly participate in thematic competitions under the YID line. There have been certain successes and victories. This is the third year in a row we have tried our hand here, but we reached the prize-winning place for the first time," smiled Elena Antipova. "Our team is already experienced; the guys work very hard and responsibly in their preparations." The final was preceded by a remote stage, where a presentation with a report on the squad's activities and a video on the topic "YID: Our Path to a Safe Future" had to be prepared. "Together with the guys: Ekaterina Zhirnova, Polina Lokteva, Mikhail Antipov, and Sergey Bolotov, we prepared excellent material that brought us to the finals of the competition," continued the mentor. "Unfortunately, for objective reasons, Katya could not go to the final stage, but she was quickly replaced by Daria Koshyeva, who coped excellently with the task set before her." In the main age group of 12-14 years, where "Forsazh" performed, the competition was very serious. Twenty-five teams from the Ardatovsky, Bolshie Boldino, Krasnobakovsky, Tonshaevsky, Vyksunsky, Sosnovsky, Pervomaisky, Krasnooktyabrsky, Shatkovsky, Sharangsky, Sergachsky, Buturlinovsky, Knyagininsky, Perevozsky, Dalnekonstantinovsky, Navashinsky, Varnavinsky, Koverninsky, Sokolskiy, Pochinkovsky, Lukoyanovsky, and Sechenovsky districts, as well as from Sarov and Kulebaki, competed for the title of the strongest in the face-to-face stage. "For the final, we prepared a mandatory task - a creative performance. The guys suggested their ideas during rehearsals, thanks to which we had a very bright and unusual performance. We used a life-size dinosaur puppet named Forsy. Your readers are already familiar with it from the events we held for elementary school students," explained Elena. "We also prepared on the theory of traffic rules, medicine, and other relevant topics." At the final "checkpoint," the teams received a runner with stages. There were four in total: a creative performance "Jokes Aside!", a traffic rules quiz "I Am Responsible...", "First Aid to a Victim in a Traffic Accident," and "Bicycle Maintenance." No one was allowed to assist the children except for themselves. "The mentors had no chance to give hints or help their charges, so the second place our squad achieved after all the challenges is the result of hard team work. We are proud of our guys! Working with such children is a pleasure," the teacher added proudly. "Overall, the atmosphere at the event was very friendly. Many of us are already familiar and have met before. All teams were well-prepared, confident in themselves, and it was immediately clear that everyone took the preparation for the competition seriously." The squad members admitted that they doubted they would receive a prize place, as they did not have the highest scores for the completed challenges according to the route sheet. "But when we saw the final results a week later, our happiness knew no bounds; emotions were, of course, overwhelming. This well-deserved second place will definitely inspire us for further achievements and, we hope, will serve as a great incentive for the younger group, with whom we will soon start preparing for a new competition," summarized Elena Antipova. Natalia SHEVTSOVA Photo provided by Elena Antipova