Three Greek high school students from Thessaloniki were first in the European Statistics Competition organised by Eurostat.

The team members hail from the Hasiotis High School of the American Agricultural School in Thessaloniki, which became the first Greek team to win the first prize in the Eurostat competition.

The Greek students faced stiff competition as they won their title among 1,444 schools, 5,208 teams, and 19,388 peers from 19 European countries.

The team of Greek students consists of 3rd year students Polykarpo-Aris Kalaitzidis, Dimitrios Paroutis, and Maria-Anastasia Trevla, whose team participated for the third time in the annual competition. Last year, they won the second prize and this year they emerged first in all of Europe.

“It was preceded by their excellent performance in the national statistics competition 2023 of the Hellenic Statistical Authority (ELSTAT), where they took second place, which gave them the “ticket” for their participation in the European competition. As part of it, they prepared a two-minute video about… well-being. It presents the life of “Yiannis”, a young man trying to survive in Greece in 2023, with the inherent problems and wounds left by the long-term economic crisis. Along with the storytelling, the viewer is bombarded with statistics and tables that confirm the picture,” the American College of Agriculture said in a statement.

The three students are particularly happy about their success, as they emphasise: “We worked hard and methodically. It is the third year that we participate. Statistics is a very interesting science and extremely fascinating.”

Together with the math teacher of Hasiotis High School, Olga Grigoriadou, who supervised and guided the team, they are preparing their bags for Luxembourg, where the award ceremony will take place on June 26.