2012 Hippocrene Prize

The Hippocrene Foundation, the French Ministry of Education and the Europe-Education-Formation-France agency (2E2F) are pleased to announce the results of the 2012 Hippocrene Prize for Education for Europe, which is rewarding five European partnership projects developed by a class and its teachers. For the first time, this third edition was nation-wide and was thus open to France’s 30 school districts.
 

Five prizes were awarded, for a total amount of €30,000 funded by the Hippocrene Foundation. There were four €5,000 prizes, with one for each category of school entitled to participate – primary schools, middle schools, general secondary schools, and vocational secondary schools – and a Grand Prize, selected from the finalists, to the amount of €10.000:
 

- The 2012 Hippocrene Grand Prize for Education for Europe amounting to €10,000 was awarded to the 1ere L (Lower sixth form/11th grade with a literary curriculum) class of the Aristide Maillol general secondary school located in Perpignan, in the Montpellier school district, for its project “Exclusion and Memory in Europe: Rivesaltes Camp; Etty Hillesum's destiny”. This project combined research into Rivesaltes Camp, a place of internment in the vicinity of Perpignan, where the students live, with literary and artistic reflection on the diary of the young Jewish Dutch woman Etty Hillesum. This project was undertaken jointly with a German partner, John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. It used a highly original pedagogical approach combining memory, history and art, thus helping young people understand their history and one another and turn together towards a common future.
 

- The 2012 Hippocrene Prize for Education for Europe dedicated to primary schools and amounting to €5000 was awarded to the Lancelot primary school of Privas, in the Grenoble school district, for its project “Volcanoes and European Landscapes”, which aimed to make young students aware that their regions are part of the European identity.
 

- The 2012 Hippocrene Prize for Education for Europe dedicated to middle schools and amounting to €5000 was awarded to the Jules Verne school located in Saint-Hilaire du Harcouët, in the Caen school district, for its project “Travelling in Slovakia, Vienna and Prague”. It consisted in discovering, in partnership with a Slovakian school, the historic capitals and figures of Vienna, Prague and Slovakia, by virtually tracking the tandem world tour of two engineers from Saint-Hilaire du Harcouët.
 

- The 2012 Hippocrene Prize for Education for Europe dedicated to vocational secondary schools and amounting to €5000 was awarded to the Henri Senez school located in Hénin Beaumont in the Lille school district for its project “DARING to change your image and mobility”. This project allowed young students preparing for a vocational A-level with a specialisation in hospitality services to develop their European citizenship through the discovery of their local heritage and that of their partner, Canterbury College in the UK.
 

- The 2012 Hippocrene Prize for Education for Europe dedicated to general secondary schools and amounting to €5000 was awarded to the Leon Bourgeois school located in Epernay, in the Reims school district, for its project “Inter-culturalism and European Citizenship: a generational challenge?” Many students in the school came from Spanish (and Portuguese) migration waves. This project aimed to make the most of this dual culture and foster tolerance, understanding and acceptance of others among students.
 

“We are delighted to be able to reward teachers who help build European civic awareness among young people through exchanges and meetings with young Europeans”, commented Michele Guyot-Roze, President of the Hippocrene Foundation.