“TouchTomorrow” — Experience the Future in the Science Truck

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Numerous students from Steinmühle in grades 8 through 11 had the opportunity to experience this over two days in the Dr. Hans Riegel Foundation’s Science Truck, which made a stop at the Stadthalle in Marburg in October.
At this mobile learning center, students were greeted by an exciting, interactive environment where they could explore the future world of life and work under the guidance of three young STEM coaches.

This made it possible to program a humanoid robot to transport a gold bear into a box. Afterward, they learned about the types of tasks robots could be used for in the near future.
“Augmented Reality (AR)” can be used in the future to simplify the assembly of relatively complex machines. At this station, the students had to assemble a machine using smart glasses, through which animated step-by-step instructions were displayed.
At another station, the students were able to experience how virtual spaces can make learning and working easier in the future. Using virtual reality (VR) goggles, participants enter a virtual workshop where they can work on a machine.
At the “Mind Control” exhibit, students experience what it feels like to control objects using only the power of their brainwaves. Here, they must guide a ball through an obstacle course. Technically, this works by measuring voltage fluctuations in the brain. A headset records these voltage fluctuations on the forehead.

Other exhibits focus, for example, on OLED displays, smart textiles, and the “Hyperloop”—a circular vacuum tube in which vehicles can be accelerated to speeds of up to 1,300 km/h, which could be a form of transportation of the future.

The students thought it was “cool” that they got to try so many things out for themselves, and they also found it interesting to learn what the future might hold for them.

For more information: www.touchtomorrow.de

Fall Break at the Waldhaus: Students Showed Off Their Fitness, Cooking Skills, and Creativity

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Well, what a wonderful coincidence: 14 students spent 14 days of their fall break at the Waldhaus—this combination made it a natural fit to have a different group prepare dinner each day. This not only ensured an interesting variety at the table but also provided a daily opportunity for community and connection.

Supporting the community even in difficult times

Like everyone else, the educational team at Steinmühle’s “Waldhaus” weekend and vacation retreat faced a major challenge during this year’s fall break: offering the students an exciting program while keeping a close eye on the spread of COVID-19 and ensuring their safety.

As a result, in addition to the group cooking nights and game nights, the program for these two weeks focused primarily on outdoor activities and creative workshops:

The students at Steinmühle Boarding School got plenty of exercise at the high ropes course, and the hike to the Frauenberg castle ruins in the Beltershausen area offered, as always, a magnificent view of the Marburg countryside. Even a brief drizzle couldn’t dampen the spirits during the activities.

The indoor program was also well-received. Equipped with a projector, popcorn, and a large sound system, movie day was one of the highlights. Sometimes it’s the oldies that are the best: Harry Potter took the top spot in the movie rankings.

Discovering the Art of Woodcarving

Some of the program activities brought out the group’s creative side. Batik-dyeing gym bags revealed a few artistic talents. The Waldhaus staff also provided carving tools and wood and offered initial guidance on how to bring their own ideas to life in wood. These have since evolved into independent projects. Boarding student Shawn took on the challenge of carving a Terminator bust. We can’t wait to see the result…

But of course, vacation fun isn’t complete without some big activities. Since laser tag is a favorite pastime for many young people, the Waldhaus educational team rented a laser tag setup. To offer a change of pace from the usual activities back home, the students were able to let off steam in a variety of ways here, under supervision and with safety precautions in place.

In addition, our classmate Cindy had her big day during the fall break: she turned 18—and of course, that had to be celebrated in style that evening. The break ended on Saturday with a raclette dinner together, to mark our time together with another delicious meal.

The end of vacation is approaching: All boarding school students will gather on Sunday

School will resume on Monday for all students at Steinmühle. Boarding school parents and students were well prepared for their return trip by boarding school director Anke Muszynski. The teachers at Steinmühle will continue the measures that Waldhaus has already implemented during the break: as much safety as necessary to maintain as much normalcy and joy as possible during these times!

Investments and Tenant Responsibilities: Future Day Complements What Students Learn in School

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The Steinmühle was the first high school in Marburg to host the so-called “Future Day.” The goal of the organizer, the “Initiative for Economic Education for Youth” from Kassel, is to teach high school students skills related to finance, housing, taxes, and health insurance.

These four areas are not covered in depth in secondary school curricula—much to the chagrin of many students, who, while they leave school with a strong academic foundation, are unfamiliar with rental agreements or financial investments. The Kassel Initiative, a nonprofit organization whose members themselves have not been out of school for very long, addresses this very issue. Since January 2019, these young people have held their “Future Day” event dozens of times at various schools throughout Germany. Ever since the Handelsblatt reported on it, the event has practically become a runaway success.

 

Speakers from the region

In all cases, experts from the region provide information on finance, housing, taxes, and health insurance. The speakers are hired by the association and are required to refrain from promoting their employers. To ensure this, the association works with the respective experts in advance to develop the content.

At the Steinmühle, representatives from a financial institution, a real estate agency, a health insurance company, and a tax advisor spoke. After the event, feedback forms were distributed to the student body. They provided an overview of the areas that the experts had explained particularly well.

 

The initiative comes from Kassel

Ben Göbel is an economics student in Kassel and organized the Future Day event at the Steinmühle together with Anna Proetel. She studies sociology and political science and, like Ben, is a member of the organizing association. Together with six other colleagues and a network of volunteers, they work on a volunteer basis; they were initially in Marburg and, shortly thereafter, practically simultaneously in Munich, Berlin, and Giessen. The organization and logistics are financially supported by foundations. The Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs is also among the sponsors. It views the initiative not as competition for schools, but as a complement to them.

Freedom at Any Cost—A Stasi File Tells the Story

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At the end of September, Manfred Casper, former CEO of the Braunschweig Region Employers’ Association, was a guest at the Steinmühle. During his lecture on the topic “Freedom at Any Price,” he proved to be a captivating storyteller, recounting his youth in the GDR, a failed escape attempt, stints in prison, and a fresh start in West Germany.

The event, initiated by the Rotary Club of Marburg and Steinmühle and organized in collaboration with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation, was originally scheduled to take place in April—before a large audience at the Forum. Due to the pandemic, it was postponed by five months, and only a quarter of the originally planned audience was allowed to attend.

In his captivating talk, Casper began by recounting his happy childhood in the GDR and his family ties to the West. But during his youth, his critical and freedom-loving spirit began to harbor doubts about the regime. Using compelling examples, he explained why he hatched plans to flee across the Bulgarian-Greek border, why those plans ultimately failed, and how they led to his imprisonment.

His account of being at the mercy of a state without separation of powers and with appalling prison conditions was deeply moving. It was impressive that, under these conditions, he found the courage to apply for permission to leave the country while still in prison—a request that was ultimately granted. Manfred Casper skillfully alternated between personal accounts, excerpts from his book *Vom Wachsen der Flügel* (*The Growing of Wings*), and quotes from his 700-page Stasi file, which continued to be updated in great detail even after his departure for the West, right up until the fall of the Wall.

The audience, which included teachers from Steinmühle and 12th-grade students, appreciated Casper’s presentation style—well-informed rather than biased, objective rather than emotional, and informative rather than preachy—and thus, just a few days before the 30th anniversary of German reunification, gained an interesting and authentic insight into a chapter of inter-German history.

Advanced Art Class at the Art Association: A former student is also exhibiting there

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With great curiosity and a desire to engage with the art, the students in Ines Vielhaben’s advanced art class explored the diverse exhibits at the Kunstverein. The Kunstverein is currently showcasing works by 21 artists from Marburg, including Francesco Scheffczyk. The former Steinmühle student is presenting a series of 10 analog black-and-white photographs and a website through which he explores youth subculture. The Kunstverein’s galleries also feature sculpture, installation art, painting, and graphic art.

The spacious art association rooms offer plenty of room in front of the exhibits for visitors to engage in a hands-on dialogue with their favorite pieces in the exhibition using chalk, colored pencils, and large-format paper. During their brief visit, the young artists produced impressive results, which they were able to present during a short guided tour.

Live experiments at home on your screen – Online workshop “STEM: The Stars of Tomorrow”

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From late June through late August, eighth- and ninth-graders from Hesse had the opportunity to participate in an online workshop on STEM. During the workshop, the students received guidance from top-notch instructors on topics that are rarely covered—or only briefly touched upon—in school. These included many fascinating insights into renewable energy technology, biological and chemical processes, as well as experiments and mathematical equations. In addition, the students programmed their own game on the computer and even built an electric motor. To enable the students to conduct experiments on their own at home, Provadis sent material kits to their homes for the sessions (e.g., construction materials and chemicals). During the 10 two-hour video conferences, the students conducted experiments at home and discussed their findings with their peers and the subject experts. At the final session, several experts presented various STEM careers.

Provadis originally developed this series of events in Frankfurt a few years ago in cooperation with five science centers in Hesse. When in-person events were no longer permitted starting in March 2020, they developed this “Online STEM Workshop.” Since this workshop has been so well received by young people, it will be offered in the future both as an “online program” and, as soon as possible, as an in-person event.

Students who are interested can find out more about the upcoming “Mint – The Stars of Tomorrow” program by clicking the following link: https://www.provadis.de/provadis-gruppe/aktuelles/details/news/schuelerinnen-experimentieren-zuhause-live-am-bildschirm.html

I definitely had a lot of fun at the workshop, and I can really recommend taking part.
Joshua Wieder

Many thanks again to Ms. Tschirch from Chemikum Marburg for bringing this opportunity to our attention!

Award for a Trio of Researchers: It’s True After All! Organic Fields Offer Better Soil

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Leontin Schmidt, Mats Egbring, and Leonard Berger have proven what is often merely claimed: Organic fields are less polluted than conventional fields and therefore provide a better foundation for growing healthy food. For their work, the students and their teacher, Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, have now received an award of recognition and certificates from the “BundesUmweltWettbewerb” (BUW), an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Research and Education.

Early in the year, before the pandemic-related measures took effect, the trio—who were interested in the natural sciences—had already submitted their project for the competition. “Soil Analyses and Implications for Our School Lunches” was the title the then-sixth graders gave to their project, which had taken up a great deal of time for them and their supervising teacher. Various soil samples were tested for their nitrate content, as well as for ammonium, phosphate, potassium, their pH value, and their so-called KAK value. This value measures the soil’s ability to release nutrients.

 

Nitrate Pollution as a Priority Area for Monitoring

The studies focused on nitrate levels. Nitrate, which is converted into nitrite in the body, inhibits oxygen transport and is suspected of being carcinogenic in higher amounts due to further reactions that produce so-called nitrosamines.

The project wasn’t limited to the in-depth studies. It also included a survey of the school community. The survey asked about consumption and eating habits regarding organically grown products, as well as students’ perceptions of their health benefits. The sixth graders also wanted to know whether Steinmühlen students would like to see even more organic options in the cafeteria and bistro at Steinmühlenküche.

As far as the soil samples are concerned, the results speak for themselves. It was found that soils from organic farming do indeed show better test results, which was particularly evident in the nitrate levels. The committee was pleased to have discovered, as part of the experiment, that the forest soils examined still show good values overall.

 

Supplementary Survey on Organic Food

The positive attitude of the students surveyed toward organic food confirmed to the three students and their teacher that the overall topic of their experiment is highly relevant and has “struck a chord.” However, the results also revealed that food selection in the Steinmühle kitchen is already largely guided by the principles of “organic, regional, and fair trade.” “We would,” the students said, “also be happy if this shift in thinking regarding food choices continued not only in the Steinmühle kitchen but also at home within individual families.”

In addition to project supervisor Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, who closely oversaw all aspects of the project and was awarded a certificate in recognition of her efforts, Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, who provided assistance with the numerous soil samples, and Dirk Lange, who managed the SurveyMonkey survey.

Although the BUW jury concluded that the project could be resubmitted after further development, the three young researchers are now focusing on water analysis. They have already begun testing nitrate levels in the Lahn River.

Additional Equipment for the Student Lab – Workbench and Sensors

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As a school with the “School for the Gifted” seal of approval, we can apply annually for funding from the Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs to provide individualized support for gifted students. Fortunately, this made it possible to finance a small workbench for the student lab.
Time and again, students also want to engage in hands-on activities, as has been the case in various “Jugend forscht” projects over the past two years. Three 10th-grade students are currently building a device as part of their “Jugend Forscht” project to investigate how much oxygen various oxidizing agents can produce at high temperatures. The workbench now makes this work easier.
The gas evolution over time is being monitored using an oxygen probe, which was funded earlier this year through the “Jugend Forscht” sponsor pool.
Another “Jugend Forscht” group from 7th grade also received the go-ahead in September to purchase a high-quality nitrate probe, which will be used to conduct research in the Lahn River.

Cambridge certificates attest to a high level of English proficiency

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Undeterred by the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Steinmühlen students have once again achieved outstanding results in English this year and earned the globally recognized Cambridge Certificate. Subject teacher Nicole Hohm and Principal Björn Gemmer praised the graduates highly for this achievement and posed for a group photo with them. Examiner Diane Oliver was also very pleased with the results and attested to the students’ excellent performance at a high linguistic level. The students had already achieved these results during the previous school year, while they were still in 11th grade. The photo session takes place a little later each year, specifically once the certificates are available.

 
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Do you have questions about the school?

School Administration & Management

Björn Gemmer & Dirk Konnertz
Phone: 06421 408-20

schule@steinmuehle.de

Do you have questions about the boarding school?

Boarding School Administration & Management

Anke Muszynski & Dirk Konnertz
Phone: 06421 408-0

internat@steinmuehle.de

Do you have questions about the school?

School Administration & Management

Björn Gemmer & Dirk Konnertz
Phone: 06421 408-20

schule@steinmuehle.de

Do you have questions about the boarding school?

Boarding School Administration & Management

Anke Muszynski & Dirk Konnertz
Phone: 06421 408-0

internat@steinmuehle.de

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