2020 Christmas Party – Celebrating in a Small Group

Normally, the Christmas party serves as a major end-of-year event for the entire boarding school: a big celebration where all the boarding students, their parents, and their teachers dine together in the dining hall and then stay up all night—that’s the plan.

But in 2020, nothing really seems “normal” anymore, and so it came to pass that Steinmühle celebrated an early, COVID-safe Christmas in a small group: The individual residential groups spread out across the grounds and made the most of their time together. And while the individual residential groups celebrated on their own, boarding school director Anke Muszynski, together with Steinmühle photographer Till Buurman, enjoyed moving from celebration to celebration and capturing these unique moments.

Westfalenhaus Swings Its Way Back to the 1920s

In the dining hall, the teachers organized a 1920s-themed murder mystery dinner for all the students at the Westfalenhaus: Who could catch the evil gangster? Even though the residents unfortunately didn’t catch the murderer by the end of the game, the party ended up being all the wilder. The students almost managed to dance the night away, if it hadn’t been for the teachers…

The parent company treats itself to a sumptuous meal

The students at the main campus usually make do with pizza during their house evenings, but for the Christmas party, they were treated to something special: The Meier III catering service delivered roast goose in abundance. And anyone who still had the energy after this delicious feast could round out the evening with a cozy get-together playing board games.

Biohaus is showering itself with compliments

The youngest students at the Steinmühle boarding school had the entire gym all to themselves. The boys and girls first let off some steam together before gathering for dinner and wrapping up the evening with a movie and homemade vanilla crescent cookies. The best part was the “compliment round” in between: Here, every student and every teacher had the chance to tell all their housemates in the residential group what they liked and admired about each person. Rumor has it that here and there, a tear of joy was even shed.

Hessenhaus Wonders: How Well Do We Really Know Each Other?

On Saturday evening, the tea room was more beautiful than it had been in a long time. The students and teachers had transformed the room into a little Christmas wonderland. After a few rounds of SingStar and exchanging Secret Santa gifts, things got exciting again: The team of educational directors had come up with some interesting questions about the residential community. Using a digital platform, the students answered the questions and eagerly followed the live rankings as the results were tallied. What color is the office door? And who is the oldest person in the house? In this playful way, the residential community got to know each other even better as the year came to a close.

Bremerhaus Dances the Night Away

After a student opened the evening in style by performing a beautiful piano piece on the grand piano in the opulently decorated room, the celebration continued in a lively atmosphere. As a surprise for the residential group, a bartender whipped up delicious (non-alcoholic) cocktails, making the evening even sweeter for the students. And while some had to take off their shoes to keep dancing, others were running around: Who would get the highly coveted frying pan for cooking in the group kitchen? In the end, the dice decided, and everyone danced together until they were completely exhausted.

Mühle Names the Winner of the Residential Group Competition

The Mühlenjungs recently renovated their common room, so it quickly became clear that the Christmas party would be the perfect occasion for a proper housewarming celebration. The highlight of the entertainment was the residents’ own performances. Ahead of the Christmas party, the guys had agreed on a contest: Who could best showcase the Mühle and its features? The winner was a video by a student who filmed the building with impressive precision using his drone.

And so this year, there were six small Christmas parties instead of one big one. Nevertheless, students and teachers were able to enjoy a wonderful evening together and, within the limits of what was possible, made this evening their own special celebration in their own unique ways.