Yesterday, November 7, the logic game “Riga Puzzle Day” took place in Riga for the second year in a row, gathering 275 young people, a total of 94 teams. 11.-12. grade students from Riga Municipality and a guest team from Liepaja competed in an intellectual challenge, solving various logic tasks and demonstrating their problem-solving skills, teamwork, and strategic thinking. The tasks borrowed from the prestigious Harvard University were solved the easiest by the Riga State 1st Gymnasium team “Mums Kļūda”.
The competition’s winners were determined after carefully evaluating the performance of the tasks. The 1st place was won by the team “Mums kļūda” from the Riga State Gymnasium No 1, the 2nd place went to the team “Komandas nosaukums” from Riga Secondary School No 13, and the 3rd place was the team “Mežmaži” from the Riga State Gymnasium No 1.
“It gives me great satisfaction to see that Riga high school students – logically thinking and erudite young people – gather today to test and improve their skills together. This is not only about solving logic problems, but also about cooperation and teamwork, which is becoming more and more important in this changing world. I am glad that in this matter Riga can be an example for schools in other municipalities, which also have the desire to organize something like this. Thank you to every young person who accepted the challenge to participate – your willingness to develop your skills today is shaping you into tomorrow’s leaders. Thanks also to our organizers, supporters and teachers, who can gather around 300 students in one place and allow them to enthusiastically solve logic tasks borrowed from the prestigious Harvard University and fight for victory,” says Riga Vice Mayor Edvards Ratnieks.
“The great interest and involvement of young people in Riga Puzzle Day is a good indicator that solving exact science, logic problems and getting to know such alternative problems are demanded and valued among our high school students. It is our great pleasure to support this event for the second year, which has also grown beyond the borders of Riga, taking place in Ogre, Sigulda and Cesis. Such an event is a great opportunity for students not only to develop their abilities to solve more complex problems, but also to get to know each other, expanding the sense of community and making new contacts, which will certainly be useful in their future professional careers as well,” says Kerli Vares, head of Luminor Bank in Latvia.
The first three teams with the highest score won cash prizes from Riga Municipality. 1st place winners – 900 euros, 2nd place winners – 600 euros, and 3rd place winners – 300 euros, and these teams were awarded a special prize – a reception with the chairman of the Riga City Council, Vilnis Ķiršis.
The event was also valuable for more than 50 teachers because they participated in professional development seminars in parallel with the student competition, where two informative lectures were offered.
- “Emotions versus logic. An Insight into Fraud.” – This topic was led by the representative of Luminor Bank, Marija Celma, who educated teachers about the types of fraud, the impact of fraud on society, and activities to maintain security.
- “Thinking errors in school and beyond.” was led by Ronalds Cinks, Riga Business School lecturer, who analyzed thinking errors and their impact on decision-making.
The purpose of the Puzzle Day game is to portray the essential importance of logic games in an educational and entertaining context, creating a common platform for knowledge exchange and cooperation. Puzzle Day has gained recognition among Latvian secondary schools, and this year, it was also held in other municipalities – Ogre, Sigulda, and Cesis. We invite other municipalities to take the initiative and organize this game for their high school students.
“Riga Puzzle Day” was organized by Riga Municipality and Riga Business School as a structural unit of Riga Technical University in cooperation with Luminor Bank. The event was also supported by Ozoco, MyFitness, Brain Games, and Ādažu čipsi.
