The student “business” “School Buddies”from the High School and High School of Avdira Xanthi & High School Feron Evros, represented Greece in the Social Innovation Relay (SIR) Competition organized by JA Europe in collaboration with NN and distinguished among 9 countries.

Having won the competition in Greece, she competed against the winning teams from Japan, the Czech Republic, Spain, Hungary, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Slovakia and was crowned as the winner along with Spain and Poland.

The competition was implemented online by JA Europe on Wednesday 05 June 2024, at 11:00 Greek time, where the results were also announced. The team prize is a three-day trip to Catania, Italy and participation in JA Europe’s GEN-E Entrepreneurship Festival 2024, where the SIR award will also be presented.

School Buddy is an innovative digital platform that facilitates the redistribution of educational materials between schools and finding sponsors for their needs. Both public and private schools participate, as well as businesses that provide equipment. It was established to cover the lack of school materials that make the educational process difficult. The student “company” simultaneously offers economic, social and ecological benefit to the community. See more on the official School Buddy website.

The team members who competed in the Junior Achievement Europe final expressed their great joy and emotion, emphasizing how much student entrepreneurship and JA Greece changed their lives. The students of School Buddy, Olga Pozatsidou, Vangelis Tournanelis, Dimitris Tsekou and Giorgos Kryoneridis said: “The experiences we gained will be unforgettable. We learned the workings of a business and its social responsibility while still teenagers. The opportunities that have been given to us and the doors that have been opened will facilitate our evolution if we take advantage of them properly. Thank you JA!”.

Very moved, the teachers in charge, Louloudia-Evangelia Kefala and Ioannis Boutzikas, stated: “Our reward from these programs and competitions is the satisfaction of our students! Their enthusiasm inspires us and gives us strength to continue. The mentors and excellent collaboration with the JA team were instrumental in our success. Thank you for your valuable support!”.

He expressed his warm congratulations Emilios Kyriakou, Chairman of the Board JA Greece, CEO of Citi Greece, Malta and Cyprus, stating: “My warmest congratulations to the children, their teachers and everyone who contributed to yet another distinction for JA Greece. School Buddy, using the circular economy, improves the study conditions of their classmates from all over Greece. Such initiatives fill us with optimism” said Mr. Kyriakou.

The President of the Board of Directors & Managing Director of NN Hellas, Mrs. Filippa Michali, said: “Congratulations to School Buddy for their important distinction in the international competition, but also for their innovative business idea that will benefit the school community. I would also like to thank our own volunteers, who helped the children with their knowledge and experience. At NN Hellas, we support young entrepreneurship in practice, strengthening initiatives in this direction, such as the Social Innovation Relay program that we have been supporting since 2016”.

“It is a team with a very big development in a short period of time. From the national final in the JA Europe competition and from one national distinction to another among 9 countries. Congratulations to the children, teachers and volunteer-mentors who supported the team every step of the way and thank them for the wonderful collaboration. Once again, we saw what schoolgirls and students can achieve, through JA Greece’s programs.” said Ioanna Kyprioti, Manager of the Social Innovation Relay Competition.