The Biohaus is home to the youngest students at the boarding school. The students in grades 5–7 took advantage of the beautiful weather to enjoy a barbecue evening followed by plenty of swimming fun in the Lahn River. Afterward, the young people tried their hand at stand-up paddleboarding and explored the Lahn River in one of the boarding school’s canoes. To wrap up the day, the residential group gatheredaround a campfire and enjoyed some homemade bread on a stick.

The Westfalenhaus hosted a barbecue in the garden. Hussam, in particular, was very involved and had taken charge of the preparations. There were authentic kebab skewers and a traditional salad with couscous. All of this created a cozy setting for celebrating Luise and Zhirui’s birthday around the campfire in the Westfalenhaus’s idyllic garden. “Grill ’n’ Chill” would be a fitting title to describe the activities of the Westfalenhaus residents. Just like many house groups before them , they, too, were drawn to the popular game “Werwolf,” which kept them entertained until it was time to turn in for the night.

At the Bremerhaus, the plan was to eat pizza in the evening sun under the trees on the school grounds. We had actually planned a cozy DVD night, but the weather was much too nice. So the residential group let off steam on the playground until night fell. This way, their energy was channeled into physical activity, and the evening ended with the teens exhausted but still relaxed. The main house hadn’t taken the “house evening” quite so literally. Thanks to the nice weather, the group began their activities as early as the afternoon at Lake Niederweimar—a recreational oasis near the Steinmühle. In the evening, the young people enjoyed delicious barbecue food and refreshing drinks on the boarding school grounds.

A Wide Range of Activities for the Rest of the Weekend

Every boarding school weekend, the educational team at Steinmühle Boarding School offers activities for the students on Saturdays and Sundays. They make sure to provide as wide a range of activities as possible: “We want to provide a break from the demands of everyday school life, get the students out of their rooms, and spend time with them,” the team explains. This allows the young people to truly experience the weekend as leisure time and recharge their energy for the upcoming school week.

On Saturday, Helmut Heilig organized activities at Lake Weimar starting at 1 p.m. The participants set off by bike for the Aqua Fun & Fitness Park there.

Starting at 1:30 p.m., our colleague Christian Schäfer visited the exhibition “Seeing People’s Hardship” at the University Church with a group of interested students. The exhibition features a selection of portrait drawings by Kurt Reuber from the Stalingrad Pocket in 1941–42. The portraits had been delivered by the last pilot to escape the encirclement and were thus preserved. They depict somber faces in which one can almost feel the distress and worry. Kurt Reuber himself had remained in Russia.

Students Luca and Hussam led a soccer practice starting at 2:00 p.m. Participants had the opportunity to learn techniques and tactics. They offered this as an additional skills training session to supplement the regular after-school club that takes place during the week.

Starting at 5 p.m., the popular bouldering session took place, once again led by Christian Schäfer. At 7 p.m., Anke Muszynski hosted an audio theater event featuring the play “The Sandman.” At 7:30 p.m., the long “High School Musical” night began with Francine Olschewski.

The Sunday program included a visit to the Celtic World with Nils Zeller at 1:00 p.m. There, at the foot of the Glauberg, the group toured the Celtic World and looked the mythical Celtic prince in the face. Of course, the excursion also included information about the living conditions of people back then: How did they live? What was a typical day like? What did they eat? To wrap things up, the students climbed the burial mound and ended the excursion with an ice cream.

But that wasn’t all. Another highlight of the weekend was the opportunity to learn the basics of canoeing on and along the Lahn River. Christian Schäfer offered a crash course and gave a brief introduction to paddling a Canadian canoe. Afterward, every participant knew how basic paddling strokes work and how to paddle in a straight line—an essential skill. They even played some games in the boats, despite the risk of falling into the water.

The afternoon continued with Francine Olschewski’s show jumping workshop, which began at 4:00 p.m. Several students at the Steinmühle boarding school have already developed a passion for this sport, and their numbers seem to be growing.

“Anyone up for starting a band?” was the question when the topic turned to making music at Bina. Initial interest was gauged to see if anyone was up for starting a Steinmühlen boarding school band. The last activity of the day, at 5 p.m., was organized by Philipp Dönges. He invited everyone to play Spikeball. This gave even those who had previously preferred the non-athletic activities a chance to burn off some energy.

To wrap up the weekend, the students gathered with the teaching staff in the gym to kick off the evening with a relaxed game of dodgeball. Having let off some steam and recharged, both the students and the teachers were now ready to start the new week.