Contests & Awards

Despite Adverse Conditions: Performance on Cambridge Exams Exceeded Expectations

Contests & Awards, Languages & International Affairs, News

This was the second time the Cambridge exam was held under COVID-19 restrictions. This year, preparation was even more heavily influenced by the lockdown and, consequently, online instruction. Despite these challenging conditions, 34 students decided to take the exam, leading to the formation of two classes led by Nicole Hohm and Matthäus Otte.

This was the first time we offered two BEC Cambridge courses. BEC stands for Business English Certificate. The Cambridge Business English Certificate series comprises a total of three certificates, and here at Steinmühle we offer the middle level—
: BEC Vantage, language level B2. With this certificate, students can demonstrate to potential employers that they are capable of working in English in an international environment. The certificate can help them when applying for internships, as well as later on when looking for a job or seeking promotions.

High degree of self-organization

While preparing for the exam, the students demonstrated a very high degree of self-organization and motivation. They voluntarily participated in online classes and also independently used digital practice rooms for language exercises. When in-person classes were finally able to resume, they worked very efficiently and with great focus in the classroom—with plenty of fresh air and the windows kept open at all times…
At the end of May, the big day arrived. After the mandatory COVID-19 tests, the exam began at 8:30 a.m.: the Reading, Writing, and Listening sections were administered until approximately 12:45 p.m., and starting at 1:15 p.m., the oral exams followed, taking place every 20 minutes in two exam rooms until 5:45 p.m.—which meant a truly nerve-wracking wait for the last exam pairs.
But the hard work paid off! The students achieved very good results—two candidates were even certified at the next higher language level, C1.

We congratulate all participants on receiving their certificates! Our photo shows the entire group together with their teachers and their certificates, which always arrive at different times.

25. November 2021

A Very Special Visit – “Techtastisch” on Set at the Steinmühle

Collaborations & Partnerships, Contests & Awards, News, STEM, Talent Development

For some time now, the well-known YouTuber Techtastisch (Marcel Häfele) has been a supporter of the +MINT talent development program, which Steinmühle will join starting in the 2022–23 school year as the only boarding school in Hesse to do so.
With the participation of students from various research courses, he recently visited Steinmühle for a day of filming. In the run-up to the visit, the students worked with their teacher, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, to plan experiments that are usually not feasible to conduct in a typical classroom setting.
Everyone involved was thrilled, as the experiments were spectacular. The reaction of sodium with water—on a slightly larger scale than is usual in the classroom—as well as with chlorine and ice, generated a great deal of interest.
The experiments in the schoolyard also drew the attention of numerous other students, who were able to observe the spectacle from a safe distance. Afterward, the elementary school students in particular had so many questions that it became very clear just how great even the youngest children’s thirst for knowledge is when it comes to scientific phenomena.

Techtastisch itself was also thrilled—by the beautiful school grounds, the fantastic opportunities for experimentation, the power plant, and the many curious students.

You can watch the video of Techtastisch’s visit here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qeFfHtvVoL4

7. October 2021

High School Graduation 2021 – The Class of 2021 Leaves Steinmühle

Contests & Awards, Events & Celebrations, Life at Boarding School, News

The 2021 high school graduation—it was a special adventure for the nine students at Steinmühle Boarding School who earned their college entrance qualifications this summer. The Abitur, already an exciting journey, was made even more thrilling for this graduating class by COVID-19 and what we might call the “unique challenges of the learning environment.”

And so it’s no surprise that this year’s graduating class has been compared to the nine companions from *The Lord of the Rings*. For as individual and unique as these nine students may be, they are united by their shared journey at Steinmühle. The Steinmühle boarding school as “Elrond’s House”—a safe haven and second home that provides strength and perseverance.

“The mill will always be my home as long as I’m here!”

As is the case every year, in addition to the official presentation of report cards, the graduating boarding students were also treated to a separate farewell ceremony organized by the boarding school and their homeroom teachers, which they attended together with their families. In an idyllic setting on the banks of the Lahn, over brunch and a toast together, each student received their very own personal farewell speech. The occasion served as a reminder of the wonderful moments they shared together: for example, Charles, who couldn’t imagine living anywhere other than the mill during his time here at the boarding school. Like Charles, however, all the high school graduates now face the major challenge of this new chapter in their lives.

Steinmühle Brings People Together—Even Beyond High School

Although the traveling adventurers’ time at the Steinmühle comes to an end here, their hope for a reunion was also expressed in their farewell speeches: “Let us hear from you!”, “You can do it!” and: “I’ll do what I can—no longer as a teacher, but as a colleague and friend.”

The warmth of the relationship between students and teachers was palpable in those moments. “I’m thrilled by these emotional speeches,” says Ms. Kersten, mother of our graduating senior Timo. “I could totally recognize my son, and I’m so proud of him and what he’s accomplished here.”

Roksana Stronzeck expressed how the Steinmühle can continue to be a home even after graduation. With tears in her eyes, the former student—who is currently completing her internship year for her vocational diploma at Blista, a residential group for the visually impaired in Marburg—shared how much she misses her time at the Steinmühle: “I was at the Steinmühle for six years. I knew in advance that I would miss that time. But it’s only when you’re really no longer here that you realize just how much the Steinmühle meant to me.”

Remembrance as a Tradition—The Time Capsule at the Steinmühle

And precisely because these memories of our time together at boarding school can be so wonderful, a new tradition has taken root over the past three years: Graduating seniors receive a metal time capsule in which they can place personal items, letters, and mementos. These time capsules are buried on the Steinmühle grounds and dug up again at the Fall Festival after 10 years. In seven years, the first graduating class will be able to reminisce together at the Fall Festival.

This year’s high school graduates, on the other hand, will have to wait another 10 years. “Whatever,” says graduate Luca Ledro, shrugging it off, “I come back here every year for the Fall Festival anyway.”

Here’s to saying goodbye and to seeing each other again

“What a wonderful farewell!” says Ms. Gorges, mother of graduating senior Kris, “I’m so glad we were able to enjoy this moment one more time with our small boarding school group.” And so, after the official farewell portion of the graduation ceremony, everyone came together to bring their time together to a joyful close. Tears were shed—some out of emotion, some out of happiness, and a few out of sadness and thoughts of parting.

But by the time the Fall Festival rolls around—which we hope will take place again this year—everyone is warmly invited to visit Steinmühle Boarding School once more. Until then, the boarding school community wishes our nine classmates a successful and exciting journey into this new chapter of their lives, filled with happiness, courage, hope, and, of course, good health.

30. July 2021

Math Again: Steinmühle Left Thousands Behind in the Pangea Competition

Contests & Awards, News, STEM

The Pangea Math Competition is a Germany-wide math competition for students in grades 3 through 10 that has been held annually since 2007. Steinmühle participates in it regularly. This year, 21 of the approximately 11,000 participating students came from Steinmühle. Of those, eight students made it into the top ranks of their grade level, according to math teacher Bernd Schweitzer.

The table below provides an overview of which students achieved these outstanding results. We congratulate them and tip our hats to them!

31. May 2021

Kangaroo Competition: “Big Leaps” in Math Once Again

Contests & Awards, News, STEM

Participation in the Kangaroo Competition—a multiple-choice math competition with over six million participants in more than 80 countries worldwide—has now become a firmly established part of the school year at Steinmühle. This year, too, students once again achieved top rankings, reports math teacher Julia Riemenschneider.

A total of 65 students from Steinmühle took part in the competition. They participated both in person and, due to the pandemic, online from home. One aspect made this year’s participation particularly special: for the first time, there were also participants from third grade at the Steinmühle Bilingual Elementary School. The oldest participants are in 10th grade.

The results of the competition demonstrate once again that mathematics is successfully taught and learned at Steinmühle. Students took second place three times. Toshiro Beato del Rosal (6a), Teresa Dinges (7b), and Orlando Geisel (7c) qualified for the competition. Lars Mitschke (5c), Moritz Wagner (5c), and Rebecca Zenker (8a) also earned a spot on the “podium,” taking third place.

In the “Kangaroo Jumps”—that is, the category for the most questions answered correctly in a row—Toshiro Beato del Rosal and Teresa Dinges once again stood out for their performance. A third-grade student, Julian Steinkamp, also performed exceptionally well.

Our heartfelt congratulations to all the participants!

Supporting Mathematics Education

The Kangaroo Competition is a contest held once a year on the third Thursday in March in all participating countries simultaneously; it is administered as a voluntary written exam in schools under supervision.

The event is designed to support mathematics education in schools, to spark and reinforce an enthusiasm for mathematics, and to encourage both independent study and classroom work by offering interesting problems.

The Kangaroo Competition is an individual contest in which participants have 75 minutes to solve 24 problems each in grades 3–4 and 5–6, and 30 problems each in grades 7–8, 9–10, and 11–13.

Our photo shows the participating students. Julian Steinkamp from Class 3 is not in the photo.

27. May 2021

English: Second Prize in the Nationwide Helbling Challenge

Contests & Awards, Languages & International Affairs, News

Participating in the Read & Listen Challenge organized by Helbling Publishing was a huge success for Class 6b at Steinmühle. For taking second place in the competition among all sixth-grade classes nationwide, Jael Bieber received a certificate (photo) and a check for 100 euros on behalf of all her classmates in Class 6b. The money will go toward the class fund.

Nearly all of Steinmühlen’s 6th-grade classes participated in the challenge, reported English teachers Theresa Großer and Stephan Steinebach, who observed a high level of enthusiasm among all participants. The assignment involved reading a book online as part of their homeschooling for two weeks and answering quiz questions about it. The students exchanged ideas via video conferences, discussing their answers to the questions. For the 6th-grade class, the assigned reading was “The Captain’s Castle” by Gavin Biggs, published by Helbling Verlag.

There were 12 chapters to read online. Each chapter included a short audio clip that provided clues about the villain in the exciting story—whom the children had to identify. The main task at the end of the story was to determine who the thief was and who was trying to steal the treasure in the castle. The children also had to figure out exactly where in the castle this treasure was hidden. The contest was conducted entirely through the interactive learning platform HELBLING e-zone.

Teachers Theresa Großer and Stephan Steinebach were delighted that the varied set of tasks was so well received by the students: “The children participated with great enthusiasm and high motivation.” In total, over 7,000 students from all over Germany took part in this exciting competition. The competition was held separately for grades 6, 7, and 8, each with a different set of tasks. Steinmühle is the only school in the Marburg-Biedenkopf district to have placed in the top 10 in one of these categories.

26. May 2021

The School’s Biggest Award Yet: Steinmühle Named a “Smart School” in the Bitkom Competition

Contests & Awards, Digitalization & AI, News

For Steinmühle, this is arguably the greatest honor it has ever received: As of Wednesday evening, our school is one of 81 “Smart Schools” nationwide—out of a total of about 40,000 schools in Germany. The announcement of this year’s twenty winners was made at the digital Bitkom Education Conference by Minister of State and Commissioner for Digitalization Dorothee Bär, who joined the event live from the Federal Chancellery. The politician, who also serves as chair of the jury, announced the names of the “award-winning flagship schools that demonstrate how digitization works.” The minister went into even greater detail: “These schools aren’t just continuing digitally what was already being done in the analog world. Rather, they’re providing additional services and doing much, much more.”

In fact, that sums up the application process quite well. Dirk Konnertz, executive director of the Steinmühle School Board Association, took the initiative and ultimately compiled the comprehensive application materials together with Principal Bernd Holly. The goal here was to demonstrate that visions for the future of our education system have already become part of everyday school life. It was about showing how digital skills are taught and how new learning scenarios are being implemented. Dirk Konnertz: “We had to explain how technology works at our school and what it accomplishes, but also how our teaching staff and students tackle these challenges—each in their own way. In addition to all these descriptions, we naturally also had to demonstrate credibly how these processes unfold, that we offer professional development, and that we are constantly evolving. We clearly benefited from the fact that we’re well-positioned in terms of our public image and that we document everything very well on our website, in the yearbook, and in the Steinmühlen magazines.” Dirk Konnertz saw particularly good prospects for the competition because the school’s self-developed app had successfully established itself as a digital tool in everyday school life: “I’m in touch almost daily with our programmer, Aaron Stein, who has continued to reliably develop the StoneApp even a year after graduating from Steinmühle. He therefore played a major role in winning this award,” emphasizes the managing director.

The only winning school in Hesse

“It makes you very proud,” said Principal Björn Gemmer, delighted with Steinmühle’s achievement as the only school in Hesse to win among all types of schools. Fellow principal Bernd Holly and Fabian Küster from Steinmühle’s IT department then explained to the live audience what best practices look like at Steinmühle—especially during the pandemic, but not only then. Of course, they mentioned the school’s own StoneApp, but they also highlighted the dedicated teachers across all grade levels, “…without whom we could never have won this award.” Steinmühle has been proud of its digitalization coordinator, Malte Klimczak, not just since winning this award. Whenever support and advice are needed, he has always been there. “Always available”—Till Buurman is also always on call when it comes to IT. After all, when the technology glitches, online conferences, learning tools, and the like simply don’t work.

“The expert jury clearly recognized that we have already arrived in the digital future and that there are no gaps in our system,” the participants concluded at the end of the day, pleased with this prestigious award.

Jury Members and Partners

The digitization of the Steinmühle was evaluated as part of the competition by the following jury members:

Dorothee Bär (Jury Chair, Office of the Federal Chancellor), Prof. Silke Bartsch (Didactics of Vocational Education, TU Berlin), Prof. Ira Diethelm (Didactics of Computer Science, University of Oldenburg), Dr. Julia Freudenberg (Managing Director, Hacker School), Julia Kleeberger (Managing Director and CEO, Junge Tüftler), Stefanie Kreusel (Member of the Supervisory Board, Senior Vice President, Customer & Public Relations, Group Representative for Digital Education and Schools at Deutsche Telekom Business Solutions GmbH), Thomas Oks (Head of Instructional Design at Oskar-Schindler-Gesamtschule in Hildesheim), Micha Pallesche (Principal, Ernst-Reuter-Schule, Karlsruhe; Smart School), Dario Schramm (Secretary General, Federal Student Conference), Lena Spak (Co-founder, Scobees), Catharina van Delden (Treasurer, Founder, and Managing Director

innosabi GmbH), Marja-Liisa Völlers (Member of the Bundestag and Vice Chair of the Enquete Commission on “Vocational Education and Training in the Digital World”), Madeleine Wolf (co-founder and CEO of Vision You).

The competition’s partners are dell.com and telekom.de; excitingedu.de serves as the media partner.

3. May 2021

2020/21 Math Olympiad: Theresa Dinges is the Hesse winner for 7th grade

Contests & Awards, News, STEM

Once again this year, many students from Steinmühle participated in the Math Olympiad, despite the challenges posed by the pandemic. Theresa Dinges, a 7th grader, was the top student in her grade level in all of Hesse!

The Math Olympiad began right at the start of the school year with what is known as a “homework round.” At the teachers’ request, particularly motivated students were given math problems to work on independently in their free time. If they were able to solve a sufficient number of these problems (the evaluation was carried out in consultation with the respective math teachers), the students could participate in the second round.
This second round took place in November 2020 and was also held within the school. Seven of our students were still in the competition at that point and took a four-hour exam. These exams were graded by their respective math teachers; their scores were submitted, and a central decision was made regarding the cutoff scores for which students in each grade level would advance.

Jan Audretsch (11th grade), Teresa Dinges (7th grade), and Yewon Jeong (8th grade) ultimately advanced to the Hesse round. Due to the pandemic, this round was conducted differently than usual. Normally, students are invited to the University of Darmstadt, where they take their third-round exams. This year, however, our participants familiarized themselves with an online platform entirely on their own. There, on the afternoon of Friday, February 26, they were able to download an exam, which was again set to last four hours.
The completed assignments, which were subsequently uploaded back to the platform, were graded by a team consisting of supervising teachers (including Julia Riemenschneider from Steinmühle), former winners, and mathematics students. Our students achieved excellent results.

Teresa Dinges deserves special mention. She took first place in the 7th grade across all of Hesse.

Steinmühle would like to congratulate you on this tremendous success!

26. April 2021

“Youth Research”: On the winners’ podium even at the state competition

Contests & Awards, News, STEM, Talent Development

“Jugend Forscht”: Steinmühlen Teams Win Additional Special Prize

Another success for Steinmühlen High School students Joshua Wieder (15), Morten Köhler (15), and Benjamin Schul (16): After the successful trio won the regional “Jugend Forscht” competition, the three students went on to take second place in the state competition. What’s more, they also won the special “JugendUnternimmt summer school” prize for their chemistry project. Held in Erfurt from July 30 to August 5, this seminar teaches entrepreneurial thinking with a focus on the potential commercialization of one’s own business idea. Their younger classmates Leonard Berger (13), Mats Egbring (12), and Leontin Schmidt (13) were also successful at the state-level “Schüler experimentieren” competition in Kassel, as they had likewise qualified for the next round. At the competition, which took place at the University of Kassel’s Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science, they took third place and also received the Special Prize for Environmental Technology from the Federal Foundation for the Environment.

From left: Morten Köhler, Benjamin Schul, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, Mats Egbring, Leontin Schmidt (not pictured: Leonard Berger)

Why conventional heating pads don’t work in ski boots—the questions the project posed to the older students have been persistently explored by Joshua, Morten, and Benjamin since last year, as they’ve come up with new ideas. They continued their research and attempted to conduct the experiment using new metals, catalysts, and oxidizing agents to optimize the heating pad system for ski boots. At the awards ceremony, which took place at Merck in Darmstadt, the expert jury praised them, saying: “You presented everything clearly and effectively, improved the analytical methods, and developed a redox system that works experimentally and is suitable for creating a prototype.”

In last year’s project, the trio of researchers was already able to demonstrate that oxygen is consumed very quickly in a snugly fitting ski boot and that the reaction leading to heat production quickly comes to a halt. Now they have found a solution to this problem; they tested various oxygen-releasing substances and ultimately succeeded with oxygen-based detergents. When heated, these substances—used as detergent additives—release large amounts of oxygen.

How to Develop a Business Plan

The “JugendUnternimmt Summer School,” which Joshua, Morten, and Benjamin are now attending, aims to empower young people to develop their ideas and innovations into viable business concepts and present them, as well as to give them an understanding of the social and societal responsibilities that entrepreneurs bear.

– Just imagine if the experiment by the three chemistry whizzes actually made it to market one day!

Now, of course, the trio is hoping that this seminar in Thuringia—which was offered as a prize by the International Martin Luther Foundation and the Thuringia Foundation for Technology, Innovation, and Research—will even be able to take place at all, given the pandemic. It will only be held in person—or it will be canceled. Unfortunately, there are no plans for an online option.

The figure on the right summarizes the project’s topic and its performance in the competition.

Nitrate in the Lahn River: Experiments on Removal

Leonard Berger, Mats Egbring, and Leontin Schmidt had also participated in the “Jugend Forscht” competition last year, focusing on the issue of nitrate. Back then, their work involved soil analyses; this time, the focus was on measurements in water bodies—specifically, in the nearby Lahn River. This is because nitrate is also dangerous in water bodies, as it can seep into groundwater and drinking water and is harmful to the body. The trio of researchers was particularly interested in the changes that occur in different seasons and at different locations along the Lahn as a result of fertilization and harvesting. The young researchers also wanted to find out whether nitrate can be removed from the water. To this end, they closely examined chemical and biological products available in the aquarium trade to test their effectiveness.

The expert jury also praised these projects highly and awarded them third place in the state-wide competition.

The Steinmühle congratulates you all on these achievements! You can be proud—we certainly are!

19. April 2021

Julia Riemenschneider and Maximilian Moll are the “math faces” in the Touch Tomorrow truck

Contests & Awards, News, STEM

Under the motto “Touch Tomorrow,” the Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation aims to provide students with guidance on career paths in the STEM fields, where the acronym STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The foundation carries on the legacy of former HARIBO owner Dr. Hans Riegel (1923–2013) and, with its Science Truck, offers an extracurricular learning space where young people can learn about these subjects. In the video clips featured in the truck—which is touring across Germany and Austria—Steinmühlen teachers Julia Riemenschneider and Maximilian Moll will soon be the “faces” of mathematics.

Math is great! To explain why that’s the case and to show who, based on their skills, can confidently take an advanced math course, an agency produced a video on behalf of the foundation, featuring the two Steinmühlen teachers as interviewees. “You have to know the basic arithmetic operations in your sleep. In the advanced course, you question things more, learn more about rules, and discover that the often-unpopular field of probability and statistics can actually be quite relevant to everyday life,” Julia Riemenschneider explained on camera. “Mathematics builds on itself, and unfortunately, there are often gaps in students’ knowledge. If the basic tools are missing, it’s difficult in the advanced course.”

Her colleague Maximilian Moll emphasized: “Anyone who can tinker and think logically meets some of the requirements.” He added: “You should definitely be confident in solving equations. And you need to have perseverance.”

Smart Teens – Well-Prepared Teachers

The Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation had approached Steinmühle following the truck’s last visit to Marburg. The Steinmühle students who had taken advantage of the opportunity during the truck’s visit to engage in dialogue with the presenters on site caught the organizers’ attention, as they asked such clever questions that the organizers automatically assumed highly qualified teachers were behind them. It didn’t take long before Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, the STEM coordinator at Steinmühle, was contacted. Teachers like that would certainly be welcome to represent the subjects!

The STEM information on the Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation’s truck is intended to help students choose their advanced courses, but also to inform them about potential future career paths. Due to the pandemic, the truck has been unable to continue its tour as planned in recent months. However, the schools that had booked it will receive an online program via the “Touch Tomorrow Stream.”

12. April 2021