Archive

2016 Spring Run for Grades 5 and 6

By now, we can count on it: the spring run for grades 5 and 6 always brings spring-like weather and excellent performances.

The Spring Run around the boathouse features four individual races on the 1,300-meter-long “Boathouse Loop,” followed by relay races.

Paula Auschill (5a) delivered an outstanding performance this year; not only was she the fastest girl, but she also outpaced the rather fast boys in her grade.

Timo Baalbaki (6c), who had already dominated last year’s Spring Run, posted the fastest time ever. Timo was the only one to finish in under 5 minutes.

The students once again approached the event with great enthusiasm and demonstrated excellent sportsmanship by cheering each other on. This led to outstanding times in the relay races. All six classes completed the lap in less than four minutes.

The results:

5th Grade Girls

1. Chill out, Paula 05:14

2. Grün, Finja-Marie 05:34

3. Egbring, Johanna Marie 5:35 a.m.

5th Grade Boys

Bredendiek, Bennet Mattis 5:27 a.m.

Seidel, Tim Jannis 5:28

Schul, Benjamin Till 5:33 a.m.

6th Grade Girls

1. Freudenstein, Clara Maria 5:47

2. Strohmenger, Jola Mae 5:52

3. Grebe, Svenja 6:01

6th Grade Boys

Baalbaki, Timo 4:58

Schmölz, Paul Anton 5:09

Wormsbächer, Joel Dennis 5:11

Seasons:

1. 6a 3:44

2. 6c 3:48

3. 5c 3:49

4. 6b 3:52

5. 5a 3:54

6. 5b 3:59

The “winning photo” features:

Back row, from left: Svenja Grebe, Clara Freudenstein, Jola Strohmenger, Joel Wormsbächer, Timo Baalbaki, Johanna Egbring

Front row, from left: Benjamin Schul, Tim Seidel, Paul Anton Schmölz, Bennet Bredendiek, Finja Grün, Paula Auschill

6. May 2016

Obstacle Course—Loosely Based on Takeshi’s Castle

Archive

Due to the poor weather forecast, we scrapped our original plan to go on a hike on May 1 and came up with an alternative activity instead: An obstacle course was set up in the gym, which the students then navigated. They shimmied along rings, balanced on benches and slacklines, climbed wall bars, jumped over and crawled under obstacles, and had to cross a distance with the help of a rope. That alone sounds challenging enough, but there’s more—during the course, the students were challenged by throwers using balls of various sizes and types. Using softballs, volleyballs, soccer balls, and medicine balls, a team of throwers tried to prevent the runners from reaching the finish line. Gradually, more and more students dared to take on the teachers—who made up the throwing team—and demonstrated, in sometimes creative and adventurous ways, how they could outwit the throwers. But the best was saved for last: The throwing team became the running team, and all the frustration that had built up during the game could finally be vented.

To wrap up May 1, we were able to uphold a bit of tradition after all, as the barbecue season at the Steinmühle officially kicked off. The evening came to a close with sausages and steaks, and the first rays of sunshine of the year sparked our anticipation for summer at the Lahngelände.

3. May 2016

LEH – BoulderCup 2016 – Steinmühle Boarding School Visits Schondorf

Archive

On April 16, 2016, the traditional annual Boarding School Boulder Cup took place. In addition to the host, Landheim Schondorf, the following schools competed: Schloß Bieberstein Boarding School, Birklehof Boarding School, Schloß Neubeuern Boarding School, and Steinmühle Boarding School. Despite the surprisingly high number of participants—which was much higher than usual—the competition was conducted in a very sportsmanlike and fair manner: as is typical in bouldering, while competitors in individual categories were vying for a good placement, the spirit of camaraderie prevailed and set the tone for the excellent atmosphere. Everyone was cheered on; spectators shared in the excitement, offered help, gave tips and advice, and chatted. Even during the competition, students from the different schools mingled, and a lively exchange took place, which continued after a delicious dinner and during the dance tea that followed.

Steinmühle fielded a team of five students and two adults: Although they once again achieved strong results, they were unable to secure the overall victory:

Among the students, Frederik Schmelzer took first place in the U16 division, and Jakob Bienecker (former student) took second place in the U16 division. Due to the strong competition, the other three students were unable to place in the “top three,” but they all gained valuable experience in competitive climbing. In the adult division, Christian Schäfer took first place, and Marcus Bienecker (former member) took second place.

However, since only a small group competed this year and no female runner from Steinmühle was able to take part, it was once again not possible to secure the overall victory. As a result, the trophy for the overall winner remained with the host town of Schondorf this year, which confidently secured the overall victory with four first-place finishes.

The 2017 LEH BoulderCup will be held next year at the Birklehof boarding school; the dates are currently being finalized.

Photos from the Cup will be posted shortly.

3. May 2016

The County Administrator and the Mayor Presented the Gold

Archive, News

He came directly from the Olympic Training Center in Hamburg and arrived just in time to personally accept his award from District Administrator Kirsten Fründt and Mayor Dr. Thomas Spies: Olympic hopeful Lucas Schäfer received the highest possible honor at this year’s Sports Awards Ceremony, which was jointly organized for the first time by the City of Marburg and the Marburg-Biedenkopf District. Björn Backes, head of the Sports Department for the university city of Marburg, also congratulated him on his gold medal, as did Dietrich Mägerlein, who had two reasons to be proud: as chairman of the Rudern und Sport Steinmühle club and as a representative of Eukerdruck. The Marburg-based company Eukerdruck is the main sponsor of the elite rower, alongside the Steinmühle School Camp Association. Photo: Rainer Waldinger

2. May 2016

The Great Crawl—The Cooking Club Takes on Locusts

Archive

On April 26, 2016, we ventured into something exotic. At the request of a student, we pan-fried grasshoppers. After doing a quick search on how to prepare the insects, we purchased them online. For the preparation, we opted for the version with sesame seeds and chili, sautéed in olive oil; this method seemed simple to prepare yet promising in terms of flavor. The big moment wasn’t long in coming. At first, it took a bit of courage to try them. But without thinking twice, we took our first bite of a grasshopper. It was quite a surprise. The flavor was somewhere between potato chips and chicken, all wrapped in a crispy skin. The cooking experiment was a success. Afterward, we had pizza, including a “grasshopper” variation. Verdict: Very tasty, but not something we need to have all the time.

28. April 2016

City Scavenger Hunt in Marburg

Archive

On Saturday, April 16, amid typical April weather, three groups of boarding school students were eager to take part in a city scavenger hunt in Marburg.

Three young Chinese students, who were our guests this weekend to get to know the Steinmühle, joined in and, accompanied by regular students from the boarding school, also enjoyed answering the questions during the city tour. The questions covered a variety of topics, ranging from entertainment to interesting facts about the eventful history of the old university town of Marburg and its well-preserved Landgrave Castle. It was a great opportunity for both our visiting students and our regular students to get to know their city better.

In the end, one group of students won by a narrow margin. These young men and women were then delighted to receive gift certificates for the ice cream shop in Marburg-Cappel, which is within walking distance.

26. April 2016

World Rowing Cup I: Lucas Schäfer Back in the Lead

Archive, News

The countdown to the final Rio qualifying race is on

Cappel/Varese (I). Lucas Schäfer of the Rudern und Sport Steinmühle club, along with his three teammates Jonathan Koch, Tobias Franzmann, and Lars Wichert, was in top form at the A final of the Rowing World Cup I in Varese, Italy. The well-coordinated team easily advanced to the final in the coxless four and finished in fifth place. A total of 17 boats were entered in this class for World Cup I. The reigning world champion, Switzerland, took the victory. Ahead of the European Championships in Brandenburg (May 4–8), the team has set itself a few more goals to further optimize its overall performance. For Lucas Schäfer, training for all these competitions is aimed at getting him in top form for the final qualifying race in Lucerne, Switzerland, from May 19 to 25, which will ultimately determine whether he qualifies for the Olympic Games in Rio.

Photos: DRV/Brodersen

Photo 5587: The DRV’s lightweight four; Lucas Schäfer is third from the front.

Photo 5700: The lightweight four (Lucas Schäfer on the left) during a cycling training session.

26. April 2016

Bands on Stage 2016

Archive, News

Once again, the classic “Bands on Stage” event was full of variety: The band made up of students from grades 5 and 6 already showed a lot of enthusiasm for playing. We can look forward to seeing how these talented and hardworking students continue to develop. The high school seniors Linda Balser and Hannah Boßhammer bid farewell to the Steinmühle music scene with various renditions of Adele songs. They were delighted by the warm farewell applause from “their audience.”

Just like last year, the guest band Couch Potatoes really rocked the house this time, too.

In the end, the Jazz Ensemble at the Steinmühle and the StoneMill House Band demonstrated, with a series of standards, just how outstanding “school musicians” can be.

26. April 2016

Winners of the Kangaroo Math Competition

Archive, News

On the third Thursday in March, nearly 850,000 students in Germany from third grade onward took part in the Kangaroo Math Competition—worldwide, the total was about 6 million. At Steinmühle, 42 students signed up for this voluntary test—mostly from fifth grade. The Kangaroo problems are usually very stimulating, sometimes entertaining, and can be solved using a wide variety of approaches. Sometimes all it takes is common sense, a bit of ingenuity, or a creative idea. In addition, it is a multiple-choice test, which suits the students very well.

Everyone who participated has now received a certificate, a booklet containing all the problems and solutions, and a small game. In each grade level, first, second, and third prizes are awarded to the top 5% of participants nationwide; these prizes include science experiment kits, strategy games, math puzzles, and books.

There were four award winners at the Steinmühle this year, including Paula Auschill even won first prize. Second prizes went to Johanna Egbring and Joshua Wieder, and a third prize went to Lotte Jungfer. The award for the longest “kangaroo jump” (i.e., the greatest number of consecutive correct answers) went to Lenn Stumm received a Kangaroo T-shirt. Congratulations!

The successful students from Class 5a, from left to right:

Johanna Egbring, Lotte Jungfer, Paula Auschill, Lenn Stumm, Joshua Wieder

25. April 2016

A slow start, just like last year—but our soccer team still won the district championship

Archive

Our soccer team won the WK II district championship and qualified for the regional tournament. In the first game against our “longtime rival,” ASW Kirchhain, it soon became clear that it wouldn’t be an easy match for our team, which had been successful in last year’s state championship: Facing a physically strong team, Steinmühle relied on its good technique and positioning, took the lead with a goal by Jakob Reinhard, but then conceded two goals in the closing minutes. Due to lapses in concentration by the defense, the team let a victory that had seemed certain slip away.

The level-headed coach Michael Neirich, together with his assistant Leon Döringer, had a hard time lifting the players’ spirits for the next game. After Hinterlandschule Biedenkopf had come out on top against Kirchhain in their match, hope began to spring up again, and now the task for the final game was clear: a 2–0 victory over Biedenkopf was what was needed—that would be enough.

Thanks to excellent preparation by their coaches, our team put on a great performance against Biedenkopf, refused to be intimidated by a physically superior opponent, and fought selflessly until the final whistle. With goals from Jonas Pfalz (9b) and Jakob Reinhard (8c), the team achieved the desired 2–0 result and thus won the 2016 WK II district championship.

Congratulations!

21. April 2016