The winners of the High School Students Awareness Awards Program, organized by the Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects Unit for high school students, have been announced.
The winners of the works carried out by the candidates who applied to the program throughout the year were announced at the ceremony on December 5, 2024. At the High School Awareness Awards launched as part of the Sabancı Foundation Philanthropy Seminar, the project entitled "Energy Awareness: Doing More with Less" by Akın Atabulu and Derin Yandaş from Izmir Private Eraslan Anatolian High School came in first this year. The project entitled "Raising Awareness about Celiac Disease and Producing Solutions by Minimizing the Difficulties Faced by Individuals with Celiac Disease" by Leyla Akça, Ayşe Yaylacı, and Dilara Özen from Ankara Eskişehir Yolu Sınav College Science High School was found deserving of second place. The "Awareness about Violence Against Women Project" by Rana Kılıç, İrem Altay, and Helin Turgut from Batman Anatolian High School came in third place. In addition, the 6 Dot Bricks Project by Alp Özpamir from Izmir American College won the Technology and Social Innovation Award. The winners received their awards from Sabancı University Board of Trustees Member E. Melisa Sabancı Tapan, Sabancı University Vice President Cem Güneri, and Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects Manager Zeynep Bahar.
After the award ceremony, the winners shared details about their projects in a panel moderated by content producer and actress Nursena Yılmaz.
The award winners were announced on World Volunteer Day
The ceremony held at Sabancı University Performing Arts Center on December 5, 2024, World Volunteer Day was hosted by Sabancı University Vice President Cem Güneri and Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects Manager Zeynep Bahar. Cem Güneri, who is also on the jury of the High School Awareness project organized by Sabancı University, said the following at the ceremony, “All of the projects that applied and won the award were very successful, we really had a hard time making a choice. We can see that the High School Awareness project, which has attracted so much attention in its first year, will have a much greater impact in the coming years. This both gives us hope and makes us happy. Since its establishment, Sabancı University has not only carried out education and research activities, but also strives to develop the social awareness of its students and employees. The most concrete evidence of this is the Civic Involvement Projects Unit and the course that all our students take in their first year of university. The aim of the project, which we organized for high school students for the first time, is to raise awareness and to appreciate our young people who do successful work. We thank our young friends for their participation."
258 students from 33 provinces and 86 high schools applied with 118 projects
Zeynep Bahar made the following statements in her speech at the ceremony: “At Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects, we are happy to launch the High School Students Awareness Awards Program. We always stand behind Sabancı University’s vision of raising socially aware young people. This award program not only celebrates the creative social responsibility projects of our youth but also once again crowns our university’s mission of raising individuals who are socially sensitive and have adopted active citizenship awareness. This year, our Civic Involvement Projects course entered its 25th year. This course, which is a first in Turkey, has guided thousands of our students as an integral part of Sabancı University since 1999. We have strived to raise our students not only in academic and professional fields, but also as individuals who have internalized the concepts of social awareness and participatory democracy. Seeing these individuals make significant changes in Turkey and all around the world show us once again how valuable these 25 years are. Although this is the first year of the High School Students Awareness Awards Program, the great interest we have received has made us proud. This year, 258 students from 86 high schools from 33 provinces applied with 118 projects. We hope that in the coming years, new projects in many different areas will be included in the program with the participation of young people from all over Turkey, and even with the joint efforts of young people from different provinces.”
Young people rewarded for their awareness
The High School Students Awareness Awards Program was launched by Sabancı University Civic Involvement Projects Unit to reward and encourage young people's sensitivity to social issues. The program aimed to increase young people's curiosity and enthusiasm about social responsibility, to create awareness, to encourage their participation in social responsibility projects, and to praise young people who play an active role in social change. The program, which was organized for the first time this year, also gave students who ranked in the top three the opportunity to receive education at Sabancı University High School Summer School.
About the Projects
“Energy Awareness: Doing More with Less”
The aim of the project is to explain the importance of energy saving on nature and economy to all segments of society, especially to young people. The goal is to ensure the spread of sustainable lifestyle with individual and social awareness. It is planned to include other schools in the program with the success of the first phase of the project. The project showed that electricity use in classes was not efficient at the beginning. Thanks to the “Energy Hunter” competition, the habit of paying attention to energy efficiency has developed among students. In the evaluation meeting held at the end of the year, 75% of the students stated that they pay attention to energy saving and have started to apply this habit at home. The project encourages efficient use of energy not only with awareness raising but also with a practical competition program. With this method, competition has been created among the students and the habit of saving energy has been established.
“Raising Awareness about Celiac Disease and Support Solutions”
The aim was to introduce celiac disease, about which awareness is low, and provide better living conditions for people with this disease. It is aimed to emphasize that celiac is a disease to live with, by drawing attention to problems such as gluten-free product access, high costs, and social exclusion. The importance of products that individuals with celiac can access more easily in their daily lives was emphasized with gluten-free bazaars, festivals, greenhouse studies, and healthy nutrition events.
“Awareness about Violence Against Women”
The project aimed to raise awareness about violence against women and gender inequality among young people. Students gained extensive information about violence against women and inequality, and their awareness increased. The conference and poetry recital held in cooperation with ŞÖNİM (Violence Prevention and Monitoring Center) increased students’ sensitivity to the subject. QR-coded information posters facilitated students’ access to detailed information about women’s rights, violence against women, and gender equality. A survey conducted with students measured awareness levels before and after the project, and the results showed a positive change. Students’ awareness about violence against women and gender equality was increased using various methods such as nostalgic video recording, poetry recital, and QR-coded posters.
“6-dot Brick Braille Alphabet Learning Application for Visually Impaired Individuals”
The aim is to enable visually impaired individuals to learn the Braille alphabet in a fun and tactile way without the support of an instructor. The application offers ease of access by allowing visually impaired individuals to learn the Braille alphabet on their own. The application, which offers tactile learning with LEGO pieces, provides a fun and permanent experience in learning the Braille alphabet. New ideas were added to the application with study groups and feedback. Creative solutions were produced such as studying mathematical subjects with LEGO. Mathematical subjects such as four operations, fractions, area, and symmetry were studied using the tactile properties of LEGO pieces. This application, which offers independent education with tactile learning, has the potential to start a new era in Braille learning. The project, which is still in development based on feedback, will be expanded in the future by adding more language support and new educational modules. It is planned to add languages such as Danish and German to the application, which started in English and Turkish.