The grand final capped the competition, first at the school level and then in the regional semi-final, which took place on November 14 in Sieroszowice. Ten of the best participants advanced to the final round. Simply making it into the top ten was already a tremendous success, but the goal was clear: to compete for victory.
The final showdown took place on December 4—on the miners’ holiday—at the “Muza” Cultural Centre in Lubin. The production was truly worthy of a grand final and followed the format of the television quiz show “One of Ten.” The competition’s main host was… Tomasz Kammel! The event also featured artistic performances by young people from schools in the Copper Basin.
The very first competition questions showed that the young participants were exceptionally well prepared and that this would be no easy walkover. Nine of the ten finalists advanced to the second stage, called the Battle of the Titans.
In this round, in addition to knowledge, participants needed to demonstrate tactical sense, as they could nominate one another to answer or take questions themselves. Fifty questions in this round selected the three participants with the highest scores.
Among them was Staś Pachnik, as well as Alicja Płatek, a student at the Primary School in Gromadka, Alicja Płatek, and Jakub Błaszczyk from Sports Schools Complex No. 7 in Lubin. The level was truly high at this point: there were only two incorrect answers out of thirty questions. Staś answered flawlessly and thus became the first winner of the Knowledge Olympiad on KGHM and the Region.
Staś owes this tremendous success above all to his older brother, Wojtek, who is a fifth-year student at Wrocław University of Science and Technology, in the Department of Mining Ge engineering and Geology, and who encouraged the young winner to take part in the competition and guided his preparations.
The winner received a tablet from a renowned company, as well as a trip to Brussels, accompanied by a chaperone.
The success of Staś and Alicja Płatek (Gromadka) reminded the KGHM management present at the tournament that the so-called Old Copper Basin still exists and that mining traditions continue to be cultivated there. On December 5, the Primary School named after the Pioneers of Polish Copper in Iwiny celebrated the 25th anniversary of receiving its name, so Staś gave a tremendous gift to everyone connected with the school, the municipality and the region.
Dariusz Pachnik/ii