2026 Winners of the Holodomor Awareness Student Competition Announced
- Genocide Watch
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
By: Katya Tymkiw
The Holodomor is a well-known part of Ukrainian history, but it’s not as widely known as part of world history.
That’s why the U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor Awareness began a competition for high school students to help spread awareness and improve education about one of the most devastating genocides of the 20th century.
Now in its fifth year, this growing competition drew entries from 28 high school students across a dozen states—Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee--who submitted poems, essays, PowerPoint and other interactive presentations.
It was remarkable to see students go above and beyond to thoughtfully interweave the impact and consequences of the 1932-33 Holodomor with today’s ongoing genocidal war of aggression, now in its fourth year, as well as other genocides.
The judges were profoundly impressed by the depth of the research, and the passion and creativity that went into these submissions. But even more impressive was the high audience engagement and response, echoed by the teachers’ feedback.
“Students were attentive and engaged, applause at the end was loud and enthusiastic,” teacher Emily Snyder said about her student’s presentation.
About one of the joint projects, teacher Larry J. Knight Jr. commented: “Both students presented themselves as serious minded scholars who are very interested in the Holodomor event and all of the consequences associated with it.”
And teacher Katherine Beckett shared: “Most students had not been aware of this event and were curious about the ramifications to present-day conflicts with important questions.”
Notably, this year’s prize money was generously donated by an anonymous family in New Jersey who are just as dedicated to ensuring the world doesn’t forget about Stalin’s reign of terror.
The high caliber and variety of projects led to robust discussions among the judges, who strove to be as thoughtful in their decisions as the students were in preparing their projects.
The winners in the 11th-12th grade group were:
1st Place: Maria Ustymenko, Wiregrass Ranch High School in Florida
2nd Place: Heidi Rodrigues, Dighton Rehoboth Regional High School in Massachusetts
3rd Place: Amrutha Kunamneni and Yelyzaveta Soltanova, Stanton College Preparatory School in Florida
Honorable Mention: Jacob Mead, Guilderland High School, New York
Honorable Mention: Kathryn Orth, Padua Academy, Delaware
The winners in the 9th-10th grade group were:
1st Place: Maria Fernandez and Yedidya Getachew, Stanton College Preparatory School in Florida
2nd Place: Nicole Hnativ, Emma Willard School in New York
3rd Place (tie): Yeva Bulatetska, State College of Florida Collegiate School in Florida
3rd Place (tie): Jane Vogel, Cedar Creek High School in New Jersey
Honorable Mention: Andriy Zakharko, St. Ignatius High School in Ohio
Winners of the competition received the following prizes: $1,000 for First Place; $500 for Second Place; $300 for Third Place; and $50 for Honorable Mention. In the case of a tie, winners shared the prize money.
Organizers of the competition expressed thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s Holodomor Student Competition. For more information about the competition and participating, email: ukrainecompetition@gmail.com.\
Katya Tymkiw is a former journalist turned digital content strategist.
The U.S. Committee for Ukrainian Holodomor Genocide Awareness would like to thank the Holodomor Competition participants for their part in raising awareness about this horrific genocide and its connection to Russia's current genocidal war against Ukraine.
Best regards,
Oksana Kulynych, Chair Holodomor Student Competition Subcommittee
