These days with the COVID-19 pandemic sweeping across the world, an event for children was held by using the state-of-the-art technology. This event is unique in terms of its design and philosophy, its scope and timing, and the methods and processes used. 

This year, "April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children`s Day" had an extra special meaning! April 23, 2020 was the 100th anniversary of the foundation of the Grand National Assembly, which is the symbol and guarantee of “National Sovereignty” in the Republic of Turkey; however, this year our children who are the owners of this day were at home with their parents to fight against an invisible enemy, the COVID-19 pandemic. 

During this challenging #stayathome process, a creative contest related to aviation was held for children who’s “minds are in the sky.” This contest was designed and launched by Can EREL, who is recognized with his assignments and unique projects in aviation. Elementary and secondary school students (born between 23 April 2007 - 22 April 2012) competed by submitting a Work Set composed of paintings and stories, working as part of a team with their family members under the theme of “Me in the Future of Aviation.” 

The contest in brief is as follows:

This philosophy that I intend to turn into a product of “CAN’CA Intellectual Projects” emerged as a project that was organized and built with the support of those who believe in my philosophy and with their sincere cooperation, administrative and communicative processes, sharing resources and methods, the concept of “Sky Kid” was formed. 

With the aim of contributing to the upbringing of our children who are indeed the guarantee of our future, to enable them to become individuals capable of dreaming, questioning, researching and cooperating and allow them to create free and unique art work with their family members, we organized a contest where they could compete with work sets composed of a paintings and relevant stories. With their team composed of a maximum of two family members (father-mother, siblings, grandparents, etc.), children born in 

• 23 April 2010 - 22 April 2012 will compete in the Category for Children

• 23 April 2007 - 22 April 2010 will compete in the Category for Teenagers 

The gifts awarded to the winners of this wonderful contest were provided by esteemed industry members and businesses and by my esteemed friends who have dedicated their lives to aviation.

Within the scope of the organization of the “Sky Kid - Painting and Story Contest" 

• General Coordinator Can EREL (Aeronautical Engineer)

• Secretariat General of the Project,

- Büşra GÖRMÜŞ (Metallurgical and Materials Engineer) - Group Coordinator

- Gülcan MANTAR (Journalist, Ankara)

• The painting jury in charge of the preliminary evaluation and rating of the competing artwork was composed of,

- Hüseyin ÇİĞDEM (Artist, Ankara) - Group Coordinator

- Aybüke HAYIRLIOĞLU (Artist, Bursa)

- Yeşim LİVAOĞLU (Artist, Ankara)

 • The jury in charge of the preliminary evaluation and rating of the stories as part of the artwork was composed of,

- Hatice Nur GÜNDOĞDU (Pilot-Trainer, Bursa) - Group Coordinator

- Hakkı AKTAŞ (Aeronautical Engineer, Istanbul)

-  Ayşenur YAZICI (Journalist, Istanbul)

Muhammed YILMAZ (Aeronautical Engineer, Istanbul)

• The Final Jury in charge of the final assessment and rating of the shortlisted competing artwork (paintings and stories) was composed of,

- Serdar ÇORA (Aeronautical Engineer, Ankara) - Group Coordinator

- Oya TORUM (Architect, Istanbul)

- Ali Taylan ÇULPAN (Aeronautical Engineer, Ankara)

- Tolga ÖZBEK (Pilot-Journalist, Istanbul)

After this intense  and exciting process, the contestants who ranked in the top three grades and who were deemed worthy of special awards were announced on the "April 23rd National Sovereignty and Children`s Day”, thus we celebrated two events. 

Children who’s “minds are in the sky” and their family members prepared and submitted their works of art designed in line with their imagination soaring freely in the sky. 40 of these sets were accepted to the contest and as a result of the evaluation of the juries composed of members who are acknowledged experts in their fields, 14 contestants received 7 ranks and 8 special awards.

According to the evaluation of the artwork,

• Winner of the Contest - “Sky Kid 2020” Mira Kahvecioğlu

• Category of Children

- Winner Leyla Pera Erkman

- Second Runner Up Aybüke Genç

- Third Runner Up Kudret Akçalı

• Category of Teenagers                    

- Winner Ecrin Karabıyık

- Second Runner Up  Yiğit Kürşad Aktaş

- Third Runner Up Sarp Peker

• Category of Children                  

- Special Award (Visual Arts) Aybüke Genç

- Special Award (Visual Arts) Sanem Özbey

- Special Award (Environmentalist) Enes Sarp Sanin

- Special Award (Flight) Sümeyye Zelal Özkorkmaz

• Category of Teenagers                    

- Special Award (Visual Arts) Rengim  Ateş

- Special Award (Verbal Art) Şaziye Yaren Aysu   

- Special Award (Technical) Erdem Kaytan

- Special Award (Flight) Almila İdil Özdemir

• Recipient of the CE Special Award (Corresponding Teacher) Sevda Oğuz, Director of Bat-man Sınav College

The International Civil Aviation Organization followed the contest and after the announcement of the results of the competition, sharing their comments on the contest and its results via the following message on its social media accounts:

“Flight has and will always inspire us all. As a timely reminder of that in these difficult times, here is a charming opportunity to look at #aviation again through fresh eyes”.

Please find the details and up-to-date developments, including the chart displaying the distribution of the awards at the website of the contest