Tomáš Marťák



  My name is Tomáš Marťák, I study at Gymnázium, Plzeň, Mikulášské nám. 23 and am 18 years old. I found out about the DofE Award Czech Republic programme in the year 2014 and am glad to have started it. It motivates me to do things that I would rarely even dream of doing by myself and helped me meet many new friends.


Ability: Flute playing
   I play on the flute for 9 years already, regularly performing on concerts and attending Czech and international flute competitions. I can't imagine living without music. I chose my gold for the gold level of the DofE Award soon: I wanted to attain the first place in the national round of the Czech music school competition as a solo flautist in 2015 (which I managed successfully). This year I set very much the same expectations for myself, but this time in a flute duo with Renny A. Chalupská and in a trio with my brother Milan (violin) and pianist Zuzana Špinková.













(International flute competition Novohradská Flétna, flute solo with accompaniment)


Sports activity: Playing water polo
   I have played water polo for 5 years. Every year, straight up to this one, I played in either the younger or older Juniors of the Czech Water Polo Association. I already fulfilled my goal, that is to play as part of the team TJ Fezko Strakonice, oddíl plavání in the II. League of the Older Juniors for the season 2014/2015.



Volunteering: Teaching in English conversation lessons
   I lived in Santa Clara, California, for 10 years. There, among other things, I learned English as my 2nd language. I try to keep my language skills on a high level and managed to gain the level of C2 in the CPE language certificate, basically meaning that I can speak and write almost as well as a native. That is why I decided to teach English on the Masarykovo Gymnázium, Plzeň with Renny A. Chalupská and prepare any students that want to participate for their Final Exam from English.

Residential activity: XII Czech Forum Jihlava of the European Youth Parliament
   Last year I found out about the chance to experience a Czech EYP Forum in Jihlava and liked the idea so much that I participated. It is a camp in which individuals from schools all over the Czech Republic join to form Committees with the goal of creating solutions to certain problems on the EU level. It is an experience that I would wish for everyone to have. This year I participated in the 18NSC in Liberec as an individual delegate and had the honour to be chosen to participate in the International Session in Rennes, France.



The preparation of the expedition No Limits - Himalaya 2016, much like the expedition itself, is the icing on the top of the cake. I look forward to it immensely.

Marie Čejnová

  
 My name is Marie Čejnová, I'm 18 years old and I study two schools: the Masaryk Grammar School in Pilsen and Pilsner Conservatory. Think that I'm insane, but this still isn't all there is to it:  I'm also taking part in the The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award and I devote my free time to these three activities throughout the year:

Skill: Playing the accordion
   I've been playing the accordion since I was seven years old. It just came my way when my mom asked me whether I'd like to play a musical instrument. Well, it was so that I began and now I'm in the second year of my studies at the conservatory. I became the laureate of several national and international competitions and these achievements led to my winning of the Pilsner Orfeus Award, which is awarded for extraordinary achievements and the representation of Pilsen in the field of classical music. However, for those who think that I play only classical music, together with the Pilsner Accordion Trio we do not shy away from techno and I record covers with my friend Vũ Thảo Chi.










Sport: Jumping
   Jumping, or rather jumping on a trampoline - an activity in which my "hyperactivity" meets my love for music.

Volunteering: Five P Project
   As a volunteer of the Intergenerational and Volunteer Center TOTEM I've been taking care of the twelve-year-old Jára, who is hyperactive and has behavioural problems. We've become great friends and together we undergo different activities that we're both interested in each week.



Residential activity: Movie Making for Social Inclusion Neapol
   In January I spent one week in the Italian Neapol with people never met before. It was a project targeting the promotion of social inclusion. This international meeting of 35 volunteers from all around Europe aimed to discuss the issues of social exclusion and inclusion by the means of a movie. Apart of getting to know the film equipment and the movie-making environment I myself tried the "inclusion" into a group of strangers where almost nobody knew each other.










The result of our work is a short featured film:




Accordion competitions:
1st place Kleine Tage der Harmonika, Kligenthal, 2016, SRN

3rd place Kleine Tage der Harmonika, Klingenthal, 2015, SRN
4th
place Internacional Accordion Competition, 2015, Switzerland

1st
place Internacional Accordion Celebration, 2014, Washington, USA - trio
1st
place Internacional Accordion Celebration, 2014, Washington, USA - duo
2st
place Internacional Accordion Celebration, 2014, Washington, USA - sólo - varieté
3rd
place Internacional Accordion Celebration, 2014, Washington, USA - sólo - klasická hudba
3rd
place Kleine Tage der Harmonika, Klingenthal, 2014

Plzeňský Orfeus prize for the year 2013


1st
place Competition of the Czech Conservatories, Pardubice, 2013

3rd
place Kleine Tage der Harmonika, Klingenthal, 2013, sólo
2nd
place Kleine Tage der Harmonika, Klingenthal, 2013, duo

1st
place national round of the Czech Music School Competition on the accordion, 2013, solo
1st
place national round of the Czech Music School Competition on the accordion, 2013, duo + award for the interpretation of a piece by A. Piazzolla 

1st place national round of the Czech Music School Competition on the accordion, 2011, solo
1st
place national round of the Czech Music School Competition on the accordion, 2011, duo

Who escapes, wins – teambuilding in ESC Room

Training expedition Český les