On 1 March, for the first time in Ogre, the logic game “Ogre Puzzle Day” took place, bringing together 80 of the most enthusiastic secondary school students to compete in solving logic problems. The Ogre State Gymnasium youth team “Dārgakmeņi” was the most skilful in solving the puzzles borrowed from the prestigious Harvard University, thus winning the honourable first place.
In the logic game “Ogre Puzzle Day”, organised by Riga Business School as a structural unit of Riga Technical University, the youth team “Dārgakmeņi” from Ogre State Gymnasium got the 1st place, the 2nd place went to the student team “Pentaspēks” from Ogre State Gymnasium and the 3rd place was secured by the youth team “5 Muskatieri” from Ikšķiles Secondary School. In total, 16 teams from 6 secondary schools of Ogre municipality participated in the event.
“We greatly appreciate that Ogre State Gymnasium, as the general education centre of the region, is able to attract cooperation partners and organise events of an unprecedented concept in Ogre region. In the short time since the announcement of Ogre Puzzle Day, we have seen an inspiring wave among young people. Positive and valuable learning experiences and achievements for everyone are the leitmotiv of the education sector in Ogre, so it was even more rewarding to be able to experience this learning and mutual cooperation experience in person. Every young person who took part today is proof that logical thinking, fun and wit help young people to learn. We are sure that this experience will inspire them to create similar initiatives in the future,” says Inna Zeņkeviča, the Director of Ogre State Gymnasium.
“The Puzzle Day concept is a great platform that not only develops the range of skills needed for coding – mainly creative problem solving – but also demonstrates how effectively the education system, public administrations and private sector companies can work when they combine their efforts. This is the path to an innovative, knowledge-rich society. Thank you to the Ogre District Education Department, Ogre State Gymnasium and Luminor Bank for supporting the logic game. We look forward to other municipalities and businesses working together to organise Puzzle Day for both high school students and corporate teams as a bonding event,” says the Director of Riga Business School Claudio Rivera.
Based on the Harvard University task structure, the first adaptation of the game has been created in Latvia and has become a tradition among young people in the USA. Similarly, other Latvian schools are planning to include it among the educational activities for their pupils.
The event was also valuable for teachers, giving them the opportunity to attend an information session to enhance their personal and professional competences. Marija Briede, fraud prevention expert at Luminor bank, gave an informative lecture to teachers on “Emotions vs. An insight into fraud”. The event sponsors provided entertainment and educational stands at the venue.
The main objective of the Puzzle Day game is to stimulate students’ interest in information technology and engagement in coding and science. By solving a logic problem, students develop excellent teamwork skills, problem-solving techniques and improve their creative thinking, which is the basis for learning programming. The format of the logic game shows that computer science is not just about programming, but about problem solving.
“Ogre Puzzle Day” was organised by the Ogre District Education Department, Riga Business School in cooperation with Ogre State Gymnasium and Luminor bank. The event was supported by MyFitness and BrainGames.
