On Monday, March 23, 2026, the final round of the March 25 Oratory Competition for High School Grade 2 students and IB DP 1 students took place at the Athens College Theater. The winner of the “March 25" Prize for the 2025–2026 school year was student Anastasia-Rea Metallinou. The students competed by delivering speeches on the following theme:

“Whoever thinks freely, thinks well.”

Rigas Velestinlis. “Περὶ Γῆς” [“On the Earth”], in Φυσικῆς Ἀπάνθισμα [Florilegium of Physics]

“Apply yourselves to your studies. Always listen to the advice of your teachers and your elders, and, as the saying goes, 'Know a hundred things and learn a thousand'. Let your progress and learning not become an adze used only for your own benefit, but let them serve the good of the community as well; for within that good, lies your own.

The Speech of Theodoros Kolokotronis at the Pnyx, Hellenic Parliament Foundation for Parliamentarism and Democracy, p. 15

“How long, lads, shall we live in the narrow passes,

alone like lions, on the mountain ridges? (…)

Better one hour of a life in freedom

than forty years of slavery and prison.”

Thourios, Rigas Velestinlis, Complete Works, ed. K. Th. Dimaras, Athens: Hermes 1978, p. 68

Two centuries after the Revolution of 1821, the values that inspired the Struggle take on new significance. In an era of global challenges, freedom of thought and expression is not always a given, even though it is a fundamental right and a necessary prerequisite for individual and social well-being.

a) What forms of intellectual subjugation do you encounter in your daily life?

b) In what ways can young people safeguard their intellectual freedom?

The panel of judges included Most Rev. Gabriel Papanikolaou, Metropolitan of Nea Ionia, Filadelfeia, Irakleio, and Chalkidona; Mr. Andreas G. Markantonatos, Professor of Ancient Greek Literature in the Department of Philology at the University of the Peloponnese; and Ms. Katerina Michalopoulou, Philologist, PhD from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and Director of the 3rd Junior High School of Agia Paraskevi.

The students who qualified for the final round of the Competition were:

1. Kordellidou Alexandra

2. Metallinou Anastasia Rea

3. Rodi Eleni

4. Stamouli Kalliroi

5. Vitoratos Charalampos

The following students also qualified for the semifinal round of the competition:

1. Azas Konstantinos

2. Kouromichelaki Erietta

3. Livir-Rallatos Spyridon

4. Pertsemlidi Maria Eleni

5. Sarra Androniki

Congratulations to all the students who participated in both the final and semifinal rounds of the competition.