Current Competition

CJN Student Competition 2024-2025 is now open!

Deadline for submitting the projects: April 26, 2025 (Thursday) 

You’re invited to enter your students in the CJN Student Competition, which combines virtual learning, fun, and Jewish cultural exchange. Using guidelines provided by Centropa, you can create projects that will engage your students and strengthen their Jewish identity.

SUBMISSIONS

Submissions will be divided into 2 groups for judging:

  • Grades 1-8
  • Grades 9-12

For each category there will be one winner and one runner up selected per age group.

Who can participate?

All students can participate who study in a Jewish school in Europe, US, or Israel. Primary, secondary and high school students are all welcome to submit a project!

Competition Period

The competition begins on October 26th, 2024 and ends on April 26th, 2025.

Dates are subject to change by the Centropa team for any unavoidable occurrence. 

Are you interested in what other students did?

Look at last years’ student competition winners and runner ups to have an idea about what a good short film looks like.

Questions?

Contact CJN coordinator, Eszter Rózsa at rozsa(at)centropa.org

Art projects

Do you have students who are full of creative ideas? Students who love to draw, and express themselves through the language of art? Even if not, no problem – you’d be surprised how creative your students get when you inspire them. This is the perfect opportunity to work together with your colleagues who teach art, and create something great together.

  1. Watch – Ask your students to watch a Centropa film. They can watch any film, but if you are not sure which one to choose, we recommend you this selection of the greatest hits of Centropa with a short description.
  2. Create – Inspired by the Centropa films, students are asked to create one – or more – pieces of art. Whether it is a drawing, a painting, a graphic novel or a montage, as long as it is displayed on a flat surface, we accept all kinds of visual art. The limit is only your students’ creativity!
  3. Send – Students are asked to send their artwork to us by email (Please include the teacher(s) email in CC)
  4. Write – With the artwork, students should also submit a short note (one paragraph in English) about which film they chose, why they chose it, and how it inspired them.

Art project rules

  1. All of the submitted artwork has to be inspired by a Centropa story.
  2. As a first step, students have to see a Centropa film, and make their artwork afterwards.
  3. Students decide freely what technique they want to use.

 How to submit a project

  1. Upload the picture / scan of the artwork to Google Drive, and create a shareable link. Make sure it is good quality!
  2. Fill out this Excel sheet under ‘Art project’ tab, and include the link of the picture/scan of your artwork.
  3. Email the completed excel sheet to Eszter Rózsa (rozsa@centropa.org).  Deadline: April 26, 2025.

When evaluating the artworks, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:

  • The knowledge students gained from the project. Make sure that there is a learning process involved, and students gain meaningful knowledge while creating their art work.
  • The creativity of the piece. Make sure your project tells an interesting story, and it catches the viewer’s attention.
  • Technical details: the materials you used for your artwork, the colours, the tone, the shapes, etc.

 Prizes

The best art projects receive prizes:

  • 1st place: 100 EUR  gift card 
  • Runners-up: 50 EUR gift car6

Video projects

Your students probably use their smartphones, tablets and new technologies all the time. Why not use this to their advantage and ask them to create short films they love? In the framework of the CJN video competition, students create films in one of the following categories, and not only learn how to research, work in a team, and edit a film – they also have fun.

  1. Virtual Jewish Cookbook Category: Gefilte fish. Tzimmes. Latkes. Charoset. Kugel. Borekas. Who doesn’t have a favourite Jewish recipe? In this project, students choose a Jewish recipe important to them and their family, research its history, and make the dish.
  2. Family History Category: Students explore their roots by researching the history of a family member. Or alternatively, create a Centropa-like video of a survivor from the Centropa database. 
  3. My Community Category: What story your students want to tell about Jewish life in their hometown? In this project, students have the opportunity to explore their Jewish identities as they explore and research the Jewish district of their town, a synagogue, their school, or their community.

Video project rules

  1. Students can submit videos in any of the 3 categories.
  2. Students are allowed to submit more than one video.
  3. The videos have to have English subtitles (even if the narration is in English). 
  4.  The video should not be longer than 5 minutes, except for the Family History category, in which case the video can be 6 minutes long. Please take this time limit seriously, as videos which are longer than the allowed time limit will not qualify for the competition.
  5. Students have to create the videos on their own. They might get professional support, but the final film has to be their own work solely.
  6. Please make sure that the video contains accurate information, based on valid sources.
  7. Submit your videos until April 26, 2025. To submit your film, upload it to Youtube / Vimeo, fill this Excel sheet on ‘Video project’ sheet, and send it to Eszter Rózsa, rozsa@centropa.org by the deadline. 

When evaluating the videos, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:

  • The knowledge students gained from the project. Make sure that there is a learning process involved, and students gain meaningful knowledge while making the film.
  • The creativity of the video. Make sure your film tells an interesting story, and it catches the viewer’s attention.
  • Technical details, the quality of the video. We know this can be hard, but the category guidelines contain many tips and tricks for creating a good film.

 

PRIZES

The best art projects receive prizes:

  • 1st place: 200 EUR  gift card 
  • Runners-up: 100 EUR gift card
 

Download Checklist & Guidelines

Checklist PDF
Guidelines PDF

Photography projects

Do you have students who constantly take photos? Do you think that a photo can inspire your students to start working on a project? Give them thought provoking videos and photos and see the results. 

Under the photo project, there are two ways to apply:

A.

Watch – Ask your students to watch a Centropa film, look for the related Centropa photos and ask them to choose a photo that inspires them.

Create – Inspired by the chosen Centropa photo, students are asked to create 1 to 5 photos.

Send – Students are asked to send their photo(s) to us by email (Please include the teacher(s) email in CC)

Write – With the photo(s), students should also submit a short note (one paragraph in English) about which photo they chose, why they chose it, and how it inspired them.

Photo project rules

  1. All of the submitted photos have to be inspired by a Centropa photo.
  2. As a first step, students have to see a Centropa film and find the related Centropa photos, and make their photos afterwards.
  3. Students are allowed to submit 1-5 photos.
  4. Submit your photo(s) until April 26, 2025. To submit your photo(s), upload it to a Google Drive, fill this Excel sheet on ‘Photo project’ sheet, and send it to Eszter Rózsa, rozsa@centropa.org by the deadline.

B.

  1. My town/ my community: In this project students are asked to portray the town/the community in which they live.
  2. My family: We share our joys and sorrows with our family, they are the ones who are always there for us. Students are asked to take photo(s) of their family or take a Centropa-like photo of a family member.
  3. My Jewish hero: Who is your students’ Jewish hero? A community leader, or a famous rabbi, someone from their family or maybe a movie star? Ask them to show us through a photo.
 

Photo project rules

  1. Students can submit photos in any of the 3 categories.
  2. Students are allowed to submit 1-5 photos.
  3. Students should also submit a short note (one paragraph in English) about which category they chose and why they chose it.
  4. Submit your photo(s) until April 26, 2025. To submit your photo(s), upload it to a Google Drive, fill this Excel sheet on ‘Photo project’ sheet, and send it to Eszter Rózsa, rozsa@centropa.org by the deadline.

DOWNLOAD GUIDELINE

Guidelines PDF

 When evaluating the photos, the following criteria will be taken into consideration:

  • The knowledge students gained from the project. Make sure that there is a learning process involved, and students gain meaningful knowledge while making the photo.
  • The creativity of the photo. Make sure your photo tells an interesting story, and it catches the viewer’s attention.
  • Technical details, the quality of the photo.

PRIZES

The best photo projects receive prizes:

  • 1st place: 200 EUR  gift card 
  • Runners-up: 100 EUR gift card