Szczepan also participated in last year’s edition of the Olympiad. At that time, he was two points short of qualifying for the final. This year, the student entered the final in fourth place and did everything to prove that he was capable of more.
– What was my way to win? Quite ordinary. I prepared for a long time to participate in the logistics Olympiad. After classes, we met with our teacher and reviewed the material. Besides, I read a lot of industry press on a daily basis, and above all, I simply like logistics, which, next to computer science, is my greatest passion. I think that in the future, after finishing my studies at the Poznan School of Logistics, I will deal with building software for the logistics industry – explained the student, who already on Friday announced that he is not afraid of challenges and will participate in next year’s edition of the Olympiad with great pleasure.
– The competition allows you to get to know your capabilities and verify your knowledge. I am not afraid that I might not win first place next year. After all, the point is to test yourself – stated Szczepan Górtowski.
Jacek Nozderka, one of the three teachers who prepared Szczepan for the 2nd National Logistics Olympiad, did not hide his pride.
– He is a very talented boy. He takes part in almost all competitions organized for high school students. I think that his success today will be a great mobilization for other students from our school – he said, satisfied. – I am proud and happy. The level of the Olympiad was high, which is why this victory is even more valuable to us – he added.
The teachers of the other finalists also did not hide their joy and emotion. Second place went to Marcin Żurowski from the Technical School Complex in Toruń, and third place to Emil Szymański from the Secondary School Complex No. 3 in Łódź.
Marcin can talk about real bad luck, as he reached the regional stage by taking 3rd place, started the final as the undisputed leader, but unfortunately, 2 points decided that he ultimately placed second.
– I am not angry. I am glad that I did so well in the Olympiad. I was close to winning. Now I have the matura exam ahead of me, and from October, I am starting studies at the Poznan School of Logistics, and that is what I cared about the most. I dedicate my success to my mother, who made every effort to ensure I am who I am – said an emotional Marcin Żurowski, who, along with Emil Szymański, the third-place winner, won free bachelor’s studies at the WSL.
The remaining finalists received partial tuition waivers, and the amount of this waiver depended on the place they achieved. However, everyone was exempted from the written part of the vocational exam and received attractive material prizes, including: laptops, a Sony PlayStation 3 game console, digital cameras, computer speaker sets, as well as gift sets funded by the STILL company.
The Best School of the 2nd National Logistics Olympiad turned out to be the St. Staszic Food School Complex in Krajenka. According to the Olympiad regulations, the best school is considered to be the one whose representatives score the most points in the final. The school from Krajenka was the only one in Poland to bring three students to the final, who took 10th, 24th, and 28th places. The prize for the best school was a set of fifteen licenses for the MonZa Edu inventory management software, funded by the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing, and laboratory equipment – a printer, scanner, and barcode reader from the company SKK Systemy Kodów Kreskowych.
The 2nd National Logistics Olympiad began on October 15, 2009. At that time, 3,644 students from 128 high schools from all over Poland took part in the first stage. For sixty minutes, they answered forty questions developed by the Scientific Committee, composed of academic lecturers. By solving a single-choice test, they checked their knowledge in the field of logistics terminology, skills in managing orders, purchases, deliveries, and warehouses, as well as techniques and technologies in logistics processes.
503 participants qualified for the regional stage. The semi-final took place on December 10, 2009, in ten Polish cities: Poznań, Warsaw, Elbląg, Sulechów, Łódź, Wrocław, Wieluń, Sandomierz, Oświęcim, Brzesko, and Szczecin. The final showdown took place on March 19, 2010, at the headquarters of the Poznan School of Logistics. That was when 35 students, exactly at noon, began solving problem-based tasks.
– Compared to last year, we have an almost one hundred percent increase in Olympiad participants. The level of the competition has also increased significantly – emphasized Wojciech Zalewski, press spokesperson for the Poznan School of Logistics – We are also very pleased with the support of logistics companies, without which it would be difficult to organize an event on such a scale.
The substantive partners of the Olympiad are: the Institute of Logistics and Warehousing and the Polish Logistics Society. The venture is sponsored by the following companies: Panopa Logistik Polska, Volkswagen Poznań, DPD Polska, Agrobex, DHL Express, L-Systems, Elettric80, Kuehne+Nagel, and Raben.
Media patronage was provided by: “Logistyka” magazine, “Polska Głos Wielkopolski”, “Polska Gazeta Transportowa”, “Logistyka a Jakość”, “Transport i Spedycja”, “Nowoczesny Magazyn”, the Logistyka.net.pl portal, Spedycje.pl, Forumtransportu.pl, Transport.pl, and Studentnews.pl.