“Jugend Forscht” School Award Presented in Braunschweig

Thanks to the commitment of the school, the parent-teacher association, and donations from Roche, Steinmühle has had a student laboratory since the spring of 2015. There, interest-driven projects are possible starting in 5th grade. This year, Steinmühle reaped the rewards of this initiative and won the 2018 “Jugend Forscht” school award for the Central Hesse region.

Marvin Preis, Joel Rucker, and Mats Böhmer—currently sixth-graders—proved to be particularly clever, quick, and hardworking during experiments and lab work. The boys, who are interested in the natural sciences, demonstrated the patience required for research work—repeating experiments—and showed consistency in doing so—not exactly typical for students of this age. This led to the three students being entered in the “Jugend forscht – Schüler experimentieren” competition. Most of the competition participants are 14 years old or older.

This was only the second time Steinmühle had participated in this competition. Most of the schools in the competition are already seasoned veterans thanks to their many years of participation, while Steinmühle was still venturing into uncharted territory. Together with their teachers, the students developed ideas for topics they could explore in depth for the competition. With great enthusiasm and initiative, the trio—who were still fifth graders last school year—tinkered with their topic: “Help—Acid in Juices. Titration of Juices.”

For 15–20 minutes, the expert jury asked the three boys various questions, delving deeply into the subject matter. In their answers, the trio demonstrated expertise and dedication, making it clear just how thoroughly they had studied the topic.

In the end, the jury praised the exceptionally high standard of work demonstrated by the Steinmühle students, despite their young age. It decided to award the school prize in part because all other Steinmühle participants from grades 7 and 11 also performed very well. Steinmühle took second place in biology in the “Jugend forscht” competition, first place in the “Schüler experimentieren” competition in chemistry, and second place in chemistry as well. The latter prize went to the three youngest Steinmühle participants.

The participating teachers, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf (chemistry) and Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe (biology), are delighted by such a high level of student engagement in the natural sciences and the time the students have invested —especially given that many Steinmühlen students are actively involved in the school’s cultural programs. According to the teachers, the competition has further strengthened the sense of community between students and teachers—a positive side effect that extends across disciplines. “You build a closer relationship with the students and share in the excitement of the competition together with them. Teachers and students are a team. That’s really something special,” said chemistry teacher Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, describing the process from her perspective.

The subject teachers want to further encourage student engagement in chemistry and biology. Winning the school award provided further motivation to do so. Students can continue their research with enthusiasm: A lab for open research for grades 7–13 is open at the Steinmühle every Friday starting at 1:15 p.m.

The 2018 “Jugend Forscht” school prize for the Central Hesse region, worth 1,000 euros and awarded in Braunschweig, went to Steinmühle. Principals Björn Gemmer and Bernd Holly (back row, from left) and the subject teachers (Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf and Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, front row) are proud of their students’ achievements.

Steinmühle has connected to the high-speed network. In cooperation with Marburg’s municipal utilities, the school and boarding school have been equipped with a state-of-the-art, high-performance fiber-optic connection. “This step ensures that we are well-prepared for the future in terms of digital learning and educational opportunities for decades to come,” say the managing director and school administration.

“We approached the municipal utility company and were able to implement our plan quickly,” reported Dirk Konnertz, executive director of the school association, during a press conference at which the project was presented to the public. He praised the utility company’s adherence to deadlines throughout all stages of the project and the generally good cooperation. The boarding school and the school carried out this important project on a cost-sharing basis. Together, they invested approximately 30,000 euros in the project.
According to Managing Director Norbert Schüren, the municipal utility company did its utmost to accommodate Steinmühle during the work by incorporating existing lines and connections in the area into the planning without bureaucratic hurdles and making use of them. The Steinmühle benefited from the boarding school’s forward-thinking planning; thanks to its IT manager, Till Buurman, a fiber-optic connection had already been installed on the premises 15 years ago. “Now we were able to take advantage of this and, in a positive sense, check this important item off our list,” says boarding school managing director Georg Ritter with satisfaction.
For the Steinmühle school administration as well, an important chapter has been successfully concluded. “When it comes to modern media, we may have a slightly different approach than other high schools,” explained Principal Björn Gemmer. The goal is to ensure that students leave Steinmühle with a comprehensive understanding of the internet and related technologies: “These skills shouldn’t have to be learned only after starting college, vocational training, or a career.” The principal mentioned that 7th-grade students will be equipped with tablets next year, “…and more will follow. We definitely needed more data capacity than we had available.”

“We couldn’t wait any longer”

Following the upgrade, the Steinmühle now has an internet connection with a speed of 500 megabits per second. Thanks to the fiber-optic connection, increasing the speed to meet future needs is no problem. If necessary, speeds of 1 Gbit/s or even 10 Gbit/s can be provided. According to Stadtwerke CEO Schüren, these are guaranteed connection speeds. Waiting until policymakers were ready to create these conditions was not an option, added school principals Björn Gemmer and Bernd Holly. Unfortunately, they noted, Germany is a relatively slow-moving country in this regard.

Teacher training on the topic of

Meanwhile, Steinmühle isn’t resting on its laurels. Next on the agenda is an in-school teacher training session in November. In cooperation with Philipps University, a training program was launched in collaboration with University Vice President Prof. Evelyn Korn and the Center for Teacher Education. The Steinmühle concept includes a comprehensive yet critical approach to the use of devices and media. The school aims to fully live up to this self-imposed standard.
Dirk Konnertz, Executive Director of the school association, believes the goals of the Steinmühle leadership team have been fully realized: “If we make even more extensive use of the internet in the classroom in the future, the necessary conditions for doing so will be in place in every respect.”
————————-

Norbert Schüren, head of Stadtwerke (4th from the right), praised Steinmühle’s initiative and its pioneering role in the area of network speed. From right: Björn Gemmer (principal), Georg Ritter (boarding school director), Johanna Buurman-Rogalla (boarding school director), Norbert Schüren (CEO of Stadtwerke Marburg), Dirk Konnertz (Managing Director of the School Association), Lars Witter (Project Coordinator at Hifreak), Bernd Holly (Principal), and Markus Scholz (Project Manager at Stadtwerke Marburg).

Congratulations to the successful graduates of Nicole Hohm’s Cambridge Business English course: The students performed exceptionally well, as they were all certified at the B2 level—a level typically expected only by the time students take their high school graduation exams. The students in the photo achieved this by the end of their eleventh-grade year. Two of them, Jana Haas and Justus Schneider, even reached C1—the language proficiency level of educated native speakers. Principal Björn Gemmer congratulated the successful group on behalf of the Steinmühlen administration team. The Cambridge exam certificates are recognized worldwide and assess writing, reading, listening, and speaking skills. Posing for the group photo (back row, from left to right): Niklas Pohl, Paulina Lölkes, Jonas Baalbaki, Justus Schneider, Johannes Korn, David Binz, Principal Björn Gemmer, (front row, zigzag, from left to right): English teacher Nicole Hohm, Jana Haas, Tristan Bruchmann, Chiara Scheffczyk, Jaqueline Herrmann, Bodam Lee, Carolin Mauersberger, Jacqueline Mopils, Lara Benisch, Dana Plamper. Missing from the photo: Geonhyeok Noh, Hannah Busch, and Hannah Hartmann.