The winners of the 15th annual El País de los Estudiantes contest are the voice of a new generation of journalists

The awards ceremony of the 15th edition of the El País de los Estudiantes contest (www.estudiantes.elpais.com), sponsored by Endesa, was held in Madrid on June 21. This unique initiative has now been laying the foundations of journalism in Spanish schools for 15 years.

The eighteen winning schools attended the awards ceremony, held at the headquarters of El País, on behalf of their respective regions.

Over the course of this school year, participants have emulated journalistic writing, have played the role of editor, and have tried their hand as layout artists and illustrators, to design their newspapers. The main focus of content this year has been social journalism, with participants tackling a range of issues that affect their local environment.

This year’s winning schools are:

1st prize: I.E.S. VICENTE MEDINA (Archena, Murcia) for their digital newspaper Letra a Letra

2nd prize: C.P.E.I.P.S LUTHER KING (San Cristobal de la Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife) for their newspaper paper La Expresión

3rd prize: C.E.I.P.S. GOYA (Terrassa, Barcelona), for their print  newspaper The Legend of Ink.

The ENDESA Award for Best Article on Energy Efficiency: I.E.S.O. PATIÑO JUAN TORRES (Toledo, Castilla - La Mancha), for their section in the digital newspaper The Crowd Times.

Best Junior Newspaper Award:  I.E.S.O. Los Barruecos (Malpartida, Cáceres) for their print newspaper La punta del Iceberg (The tip of the iceberg).

The winners received the following prizes:

A check for trips worth € 12,000 for the 1st prize-winning school.

A check for trips worth € 9,000 for 2nd-prize winning school.

A check for trips worth € 6,000 for the 3rd-prize winning school.

In addition, each center also received an additional check worth € 6,000 for computer equipment. 

As well as the general awards, the program also gives out Special Awards aimed at encouraging students to work in different categories. The winning students in each category received a tablet. And the winners in the Best Multimedia Content category have also made a visit to the Cadena SER HQ.

This year, to mark the fifteenth anniversary of El País de los Estudiantes there was also an Award for Best Junior Newspaper, aimed at teachers and students from the 1st year of ESO. The winner was I.E.S.O. Barruecos (Malpartida, Cáceres) for their print newspaper La punta del Iceberg (The tip of the iceberg). The team won a trip to Madrid to attend the awards ceremony and visit the El País printworks. The winners in the other Special Awards categories were:

Best Report

Aarón Otero Castro, Julia Otero Castrelo y Brais Gil Zas for “Roma solidaria con los refugiados”. (Rome: Solidarity with refugees) I.E.S. ROSALÍA DE CASTRO. Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña.

Best Interview

Pablo Rodriguez Sanchez and Luis Díaz de la Guía for their interview with Patxi Lopez, Speaker of the Congress. I.E.S. FIGUERAS PACHECO. Alicante.

Best Comic

Tamara Caballero Gordito y Macarena Fernández Garrote for “Monesterio”. I.E.S. MAESTRO JUAN CALERO. Monesterio, Badajoz.

Best Multimedia Content

Marc Jornet Martínez, Nerea Paola López, Raquel Granell Deval, Vicent Alfonso Reig, Lucía Santos Fernández, Jesús Segovia Palanca, Silvia Santos Fernández, Clara Alabajos Guillem, Iris Marco Munera, Mihaela Manea, Juan Alberto Puchol Rodrigo, Alba Ramírez Soler, Marta Caparrós Beltrán, Irene Quintero Amor, Ana Toledo Álvarez, Natalia Lozano Brazalez, Celia Ausina Izquierdo for “Visita a l’Oceanogràfic”. Moncada, Valencia.

Best Photo

Lucas Criado Díaz y Paula Anaya Pérez for “Aquellos años oscuros” (Those dark years). C.C. NTRA. SRA. DE LA PAZ. Torrelavega, Cantabria.

Best English Section

Elena Blanco González, Aurora Cabo Alonso, Marta Prado Nieto, Lucía Montero Busto y Pablo García Grossi for “See a psychologist? Are you mad?”. COLEGIO STO. DOMINGO DE GUZMÁN. Oviedo, Asturias.

Best Advertising

Juan Manuel Canals Rosales y Oruam Rodríguez Colmenares for their "Institutional Campaign on drug use and driving." I.E.S. FRANCESC VIDAL I BARRAQUER. Tarragona.

Best Blog

Julián Motellón Molina por “De noche en noche” (From one night to the next). I.E.S. VICENTE MEDINA. Archena, Murcia.