Steinmühle Spreads Love 180 Times – Even the Mayor and HR Are Impressed - Steinmühle

Steinmühle Spreads Love 180 Times – Even the Mayor and HR Are Impressed

Collaborations & Partnerships, News, Social Engagement

It all started with a simple idea: shared joy is double the joy!

The students at the Steinmühle boarding school have also noticed that these vital resources derived from social relationships are currently difficult to access due to the COVID-19 measures. Adolescence is supposed to be characterized by diverse social relationships that can play a particularly important role in the developmental process; however, the many opportunities for social interaction are currently severely limited.

Boarding school educator Francine Olschewski also noticed this growing desire for social interaction and connection among the students at the Steinmühle boarding school. And so the idea was quite simple: By doing something good for others, you might also be doing something good for yourself in the process. From this simple idea by the educator emerged a successful and promising collaboration between the City of Marburg’s “In Würde Teilhaben” project and the Steinmühle boarding school community.

Small Ideas with a Big Impact

The City of Marburg’s project aims to improve the subjective well-being of elderly and very elderly people who are lonely and living in isolation by establishing contact with them. During the run-up to Christmas, surprise packages—known as “encouragement bags”—were put together for this purpose, and the boarding school students contributed to them with homemade cookies and handcrafted Christmas cards.

At first, a handful of students got together and pooled their ideas. It quickly became clear: Our students wanted to do something good for people in need during this time of the coronavirus pandemic. Anyone can bake cookies, and many are creatively talented: so for the “Cheer-Up Bag,” the students wanted to include something delicious and a kind message. “I finally felt like I was doing something meaningful again!” says student Friederike enthusiastically. “Such small things can bring so much joy.”

The entire boarding school community pitches in

The students’ initiative impressively demonstrated that sharing experiences with others can enhance our well-being:
With the support of boarding school counselor Francine Olschewski, this small group of students managed to get every member of the boarding school community to participate in this initiative. As a result, ovens are running hot in all six residential groups as students bake cookies, and even the housekeeping and administrative staff helped design the cards. “I really didn’t think we’d be able to pull this off. But so many people on campus were enthusiastic about the idea that, in the end, we all pulled it off together,” Francine Olschewski reports proudly. In the end, the boarding school community donated 180 bags of cookies and 180 individually designed cards to the “Mut-Mach-Tüte” project.

Mayor Spies and HR document the handover

And because the initiative is so full of compassion and dedication, it was no surprise that Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies wanted to be there to help present the gifts to the project leader. This ultimately even drew Hessischer Rundfunk to the Steinmühlen grounds, where they recorded the students presenting their homemade gifts to project leader Ms. Angela Schönemann. Boarding school student Noah is especially thrilled: “It all started with just a little idea. And now I’m carrying the cookies right alongside the mayor!”

You can listen to the segment from the show HERE .

Endless Commitment – Students Are Motivated

Caught up in the excitement, the students naturally can’t resist taking part in the distribution of the “cheer-up” bags to the elderly. And so, equipped with FFP2 masks, bags of homemade cookies, and handcrafted cards, some students are bringing a little joy to elderly people living alone in Marburg. “I think it’s super cool what you’ve started here. It began with just a little idea, and I’m so touched by the result. This is exactly what older people need right now,” says project leader Angela Schönemann happily.

Three groups of students surprise lonely seniors at their front doors with a socially distanced visit during the pre-Christmas season. A special highlight: Felix, a student who hopes to study music someday, delights and amazes them with spontaneous arias and choral songs right at their front doors.

The reactions are very emotional on both sides: While the elderly express their joy at this spontaneous, lovely surprise with effusive warmth, the students are deeply moved that such a small gesture can bring so much joy. “I can hardly believe how much love is coming our way. I definitely want to keep doing things like this next year!” says student Verena, visibly moved.

Cooperation to Continue – Doing Good in 2021 as Well

Despite all the challenges, the students at Steinmühle Boarding School have already put together a wonderful project this year. Inspired by the heartfelt reactions of the elderly residents, initiator Francine Olschewski and her students are eager to continue the project in 2021. They are planning to establish mentoring relationships and regular contact between young and old. No matter what—the Steinmühle boarding school community will find its own unique way to make this happen in 2021 as well.

23. December 2020

2020 Christmas Party – Celebrating in a Small Group

Events & Celebrations, News

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.

17. December 2020

Strong Interest in the StoneApp: RTL Hessen Visited the Steinmühle

Collaborations & Partnerships, Digitalization & AI, News

Am 3. Dezember 2020 besuchte uns RTL Hessen. Nach Veröffentlichung des Podcasts bei HR-iNFO hatte auch der Fernsehsender großes Interesse, unsere StoneApp kennenzulernen und vorzustellen.
Entstanden ist ein wirklich sehr schöner Beitrag. Herzlichen Dank an die Reporter Pascal Wede und Tim Ellrich – und großes Kompliment an Aaron, Jan, Eberhard Wieth und Bernd Holly für den perfekten Auftritt!