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.

A large campus like the one at Steinmühle currently helps prevent large groups of people from gathering. If the weather cooperates, everything goes smoothly—as was the case recently during the welcome event for the new 5th-grade students.

Parents and children took their seats on wooden benches spaced far apart, while the welcome music played under the direction of Frank Wemme. Principals Bernd Holly and Björn Gemmer gave a brief speech and introduced Jasmine Weidenbach, the chairwoman of the Steinmühle Marburg Friends Association. At the end of the morning, she presented each new student with a Steinmühle T-shirt.

Teachers helped organize the classes using buttons and signs. Who would be in the same class as whom? Those were some exciting moments!

Before visiting the classrooms, there was also a group photo session on the schedule—with signs identifying each class—but this time without the parents.

While the children were getting to know their new classrooms, a refreshment stand was set up for the parents—in compliance with hygiene regulations, of course. The morning—and thus the first day of school for the fifth graders—came to a close at the “Spinne,” Steinmühle’s popular climbing area for younger students.
As is the case every year, some fifth graders quickly swapped out the clothes they’d come in wearing for the T-shirt provided by the booster club—a positive sign for the trip home, as it already signaled their sense of belonging to their new school.

The Steinmühle would like to thank all the volunteers who, despite everything, helped make this “somewhat different first day of school” such a carefree event.

Bottle and Can Collection Drive to benefit of young victims of domestic violence

To provide relief where it is most urgently needed right now, the high school seniors at Steinmühle Boarding School have launched a fundraising campaign over the past few weeks. Their goal is to do their part to foster a spirit of solidarity.

The effects of the COVID-19 crisis are a test for society as a whole, but during economic crises, it is often those who already have very little who suffer the most. Independent social service organizations are particularly hard-hit by economic downturns, as they are only able to make limited financial provisions. The loss of revenue then particularly affects clients who are in urgent need of financial and social work support.

The plan was quickly made

The idea was as simple as it was successful: If everyone contributes just a small part, but the number of participants is very high—so the simple equation goes—the result will also be very large. So our high school seniors called on the entire boarding school community to donate their personal returnable bottles and beverage crates to the fundraiser. To make it as easy as possible for everyone to participate, they didn’t even have to take the empty containers away themselves. A “pickup service” organized by the graduating seniors ensured that all the empty bottles and crates were collected from the doors of the boarding school students’ private rooms and apartments over the course of two weeks.

 

Overwhelming Success

Since all the students, the entire teaching staff, and the boarding school as an institution were happy to respond to the call for donations and participated in this wonderful initiative in an exemplary manner, the graduating seniors were able to collect so many empty bottles and cans over the course of two weeks that transporting them required the use of a bus and an additional car. After more than an hour of redeeming the bottles, it was finally clear that the initiative had raised more than 300 € for the donation fund, which was subsequently donated to “Frauen helfen Frauen e.V.” and the Counseling and Intervention Center Against Domestic Violence. It didn’t take long for the thanks to come…

 

 

 

Dear Ms. Muszynski, dear high school graduates,

Thank you very much for your donation to the children’s and youth program at the Marburg Women’s Shelter—we were very happy that the children living here were remembered in this way !

The womenat the women’s shelter have often witnessed or even experienced violence themselves. It is therefore important for them to be able to enjoy a time here at the women’s shelter that is as carefree as possible .

Since summer is just around the corner and we hope that outings will soon be possible again, we’d like to use the money for those kinds of activities (e.g., going out for ice cream, visiting the zoo, etc.).

I’ve attached a little note from the children.

Once again, thank you so much to you and the high school graduates, and all the best!

With warm regards from the women’s shelter,

Jasmin Worseg (Music Therapist, M.A. // Children’s and Youth Services at the Women’s Shelter)

The workshop is known as “Aktion BOB,” and every year, in the run-up to Carnival season, the police use it to educate 11th-grade students about the dangers of drinking and driving. However, the content of the two-hour course goes beyond simply describing the dangers of alcohol and is, of course, relevant all year round.

Senior Police Inspector Thorsten Frey from the Regional Traffic Division of the Marburg Police Department spent two mornings giving very vivid presentations to two classes each day, explaining where dangers lurk for drivers, what behaviors to follow, and which ones to avoid. The entire project was organized by Steinmühlen teachers Heike Rabben-Martin and Nicole Hohm.

 

Also dangerous: old glasses, medications, and time pressure

Drawing on real-life incidents from the local area, the speaker described the tragic outcomes of car trips where alcohol was involved. But danger can also lurk from other sources. For example, many medications contain substances that impair reaction time. Outdated eyeglasses impair vision, and a leg or arm in a cast no longer allows for reliable control of the vehicle. In addition to faulty brakes or tires—which must have a minimum tread depth of 1.6 mm—distractions such as cell phones, children in the car, or restless passengers are often underestimated. If you’re pressed for time, it’s not a good idea to mention the stress or time pressure you’re under when filing a report after an accident. “By doing so, you’re essentially admitting that you intentionally exceeded the speed limit or, at the very least, accepted that you had broken it.” The police officer also warned against driving or continuing to drive while extremely tired: “Before you risk falling asleep at the wheel, please pull over!” (Hei)