Career Guidance: The Geva Test Points the Way

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For the third time, Steinmühle gave a graduating class the opportunity to assess their own abilities through the geva test before they were finally placed in advanced courses. The test requires students to work through a test booklet containing various tasks within four hours. A limited amount of time is allotted for each task. Once the results are evaluated, they reveal the students’ aptitudes and interests and suggest which careers might be suitable for them in the future. This is particularly helpful for students who do not yet have a specific career path in mind. “Our partnership with the geva Institute is a key component of our career guidance activities,” explained Dr. Claudia Röder, who also serves as the coordinator for school-based internships.

The JazzEnsemble and the StoneMill House Band presented their new program in Wolfshausen

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Three and a half days to work together to bring to life the music we want to play—for many years now, this has been the foundation of both ensembles’ annual programs, which are then premiered at Bands on Stage: Songs ranging from John Lennon to ’50s rhythm ’n’ blues, ’80s movie pop, jazz-funk, and Real Book standards in 2020. Both ensembles have grown significantly this year thanks to younger musicians—in particular, female vocalists, flutists, a violinist, and a young euphonium player. The more experienced older members are still there as well, ensuring that both the band and the jazz ensemble maintain their vibrant outlook for years to come: How it’s done is passed on playfully, directly from musician to musician, through collaboration among students in grades 6 through 12. What is explained can be experienced immediately through mutual listening and playing. Ideas for just about everything come from the group. And the wonderful retreat on the edge of the Wolfshausen forest is a fantastic and welcoming place for this—once again this year: “Imagine… it’s easy if you try.”

(Frank Wemme)

She designed the KUSS Oscar: Kiara Cordes was the most creative

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In search of its own “Oscar” for the Hessian Children’s and Youth Theater Week (KUSS Festival), partner schools of the Hessian State Theater were asked to submit design ideas. The idea submitted by Steinmühlen student Kiara Cordes (Class 12e) was the most compelling: an artist modeled from clay on his way to the stage. The trophy was created during special sessions over the holidays with the support of teacher Ines Vielhaben and will now be recreated each year and presented to the new KUSS winner. Photos: Katja Peters

KUSS Festival Trophy, Kiara Cordes, Steinmühle. Photo: Katja Peters

KUSS Festival Trophy, Kiara Cordes, Steinmühle. Photo: Katja Peters

Focus on the “Health-Promoting School”: Working Toward the Second Certificate

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Steinmühle School has cleared another hurdle on its path to becoming a Health-Promoting School and has earned the “Movement and Perception” partial certificate. As a result, the school now holds two of the at least four partial certificates required to earn the overall certificate. Both partial and overall certification are issued by the Hessian Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs.

All certification stages require a high degree of organization and commitment in the respective area. After the first partial certificate focused on the topic of “Nutrition and Consumption,” the focus shifted to school activities related to physical activity and awareness. “The certification process was initiated by forming a steering committee,” reports school athletic director Michael Neirich, who coordinated the overall process and also provided professional development on the topic. “It worked to Steinmühle’s advantage that many of these elements were already part of our everyday school life,” says Neirich in retrospect. “We were in a pretty good position right from the start.”

Nevertheless, it was necessary to collect basic data, compile conceptual information, and prepare documentation on the work. This included conference minutes, project descriptions, press reports, and professional development events. The assessment was based on a self-evaluation and an external evaluation by the certification group of the State School Authority—including a meeting with the school administration, an on-site tour, and classroom observations.

In addition to Michael Neirich, the main contributors to the development of the “School Promoting Physical Activity and Perception” sub-certificate were Manuela Schmidt (steering committee chair), Moritz Zöckler (documentation), Nicole Hohm and Heike Rabben-Martin (addiction prevention), Carmen Bastian (Environmental Office), and Bernd Holly, representing the school administration. Angela Heinemann

They were the “front-line workers” who helped earn the certificate, which was presented by School District Director Heike Grosser (right). From left: Moritz Zöckler, Manuela Schmidt, Michael Neirich.

Steinmühle Boarding School: A Safe and Reliable Home, Even in Times of Crisis

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Idyllic natural surroundings at the Steinmühle boarding school and nature camp in Marburg, Hesse, for students with behavioral challenges and gifted students

Even during the COVID-19 crisis, Steinmühle Boarding School remains a safe and reliable home for every boarding student. In compliance with the currently applicable general hygiene regulations, all residents have the opportunity to move about freely on the spacious boarding school grounds. This ensures that students can spend time close to nature in the fresh air and engage in individual physical activities.

To ensure the safety of all students and teaching staff, students are currently not permitted to leave the Steinmühle campus.

Since the state of Hesse suspended compulsory schooling, all students at Steinmühle have been participating in homeschooling. Steinmühle immediately implemented the necessary technical measures to facilitate this. The teachers provide as much support as possible to boarding students during homeschooling whenever questions arise regarding their assignments.

 

Homeschooling at Steinmühle, or the Benefits of the StoneApp

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Homeschooling is currently posing major challenges for many students, but especially for parents. This is particularly true when parents still have to go to work or work from home while also caring for their children.

However, parents do not always complain about the additional workload caused by the assignments; many feel helpless because there is a lack of adequate communication between the school, the home, and the teachers. And still others are surprised that their daughters and sons have very little to do. Apparently, not all teachers feel obligated to assign homework, or they lack the technical means to get it to the students.

At Steinmühle, they’re unaware of these problems. The reason: this privately run school has made enormous efforts over the past two years and is years ahead of public schools when it comes to digitalization. When it comes to homeschooling, the so-called StoneApp is particularly helpful; it was initiated a few months ago by Steinmühle’s upper-level computer science class and was largely programmed by current Steinmühle senior Aaron Stein. The StoneApp, which all Steinmühle students and their parents have been using for a year and a half, displays individual class schedules, the substitute teacher schedule, the exam schedule, and the school cafeteria menu, and it is linked to the Steinmühle website. During the school closure, it is of the utmost importance that the StoneApp also serves as a communication and data platform between students and their parents, on the one hand, and teachers and the school, on the other:

  • Each class and each course has its own group, to which all students and the respective teachers are assigned.
  • Teachers and group moderators can post messages in individual groups, create subject folders, and upload assignments to them.
  • Because StoneApp is a web-based app, it can be used not only on mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets, but also on any computer with internet access. This makes downloading and processing orders particularly convenient.
  • The StoneApp contains the email addresses of all Steinmühle teachers, so users can send questions, comments, and assignments to the teachers.

When the school closed, the Steinmühle faculty were required by the school administration to do the following:

  • Assignments should be created that roughly cover the amount of time the class would have taken.
  • Teachers are required to document assignments: They must enter into a teacher’s lesson plan spreadsheet the information that would otherwise have been recorded in the class or course log.
  • Students are required to send their work to their teachers via email. Assignments should be given on a weekly basis, and the work should be collected weekly. This allows the students’ work to serve as a basis for the teachers’ further planning, and enables the teachers to provide the students with feedback on their work.
  • Facts can be researched using appropriate online resources. To this end, many skills have been acquired in recent months through in-school teacher training sessions held as part of the introduction of tablet-based instruction at Steinmühle.
  • Teachers who wish to create their own so-called tutorials or who require their students to create video content are granted access to the Steinmühlen Cloud, where large amounts of data can be uploaded.
  • The requirement to assign learning and work tasks applies not only to major subjects but also to minor subjects. The only exceptions are elective courses, physical education, and swimming. In the subjects of Drama, Musical Theater, and Theater Workshop, students should be assigned tasks to memorize texts.

To ensure that all of this could be done successfully, the students were given three days—each day consisting of eleven hours—at the start of the school closures to retrieve their school supplies from the school. This helped prevent large crowds from forming.

The students in emergency care and the boarding students who cannot go home are working on their assignments at the Steinmühle.

The feedback provided by students and parents to homeroom teachers and school administrators during the first week mostly reflected great gratitude for the excellent organization and the teachers’ strong commitment. The only critical feedback concerned the sheer volume of assignments. In this regard, the school administration had to urge its teachers to exercise restraint and to consider that completing assignments independently at home is more challenging than at school, where classmates and teachers can more easily offer help or provide specific guidance. This remains the case even with StoneApp, which is why the volume of assignments for Week 2 was reduced slightly.

Bio-Olympics with a State Seminar at TU Darmstadt

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Conduct Biochemical Experiments Yourself and explore new areas of biology

First things first: You don’t have to be in the advanced biology class—this is all about personal interest and extracurricular involvement! The International Biology Olympiad (IBO) is an annual competition for high school students that consists of four rounds. After successfully completing written knowledge tests and practical lab work, the four top German students will travel to the host country of the respective Olympiad for the final round. This year, that country is Japan (Nagasaki).

In my first year participating, I made it to the second round and, as one of the top ten students from Hesse, was invited to attend a four-day state seminar at TU Darmstadt. Throughout the entire time, I was supervised by Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, who serves as the contact person at Steinmühle for student competitions in biology.

 

Requirements Beyond the High School Level

In the first round, four open-ended problems are presented covering all areas of biology. The difficulty level exceeds that of high school, but participants may use any relevant reference materials to solve the problems. The submitted solutions, in the form of a term paper, are reviewed by the supervising teacher. For me, the decision to participate in the Biology Olympiad wasn’t based on the expectation that I would definitely advance to the third and fourth rounds. My primary goal was to take advantage of the opportunity to tackle more challenging problems in biology, since I plan to study medicine after graduating from high school and enjoy taking on new challenges.

The first round requires a significant time commitment, but for me it was worth it—both to gain new knowledge in the fields of botany, genetics, zoology, physiology, systematics, and biochemistry, and to practice writing a scientific paper.

About half of all participants made it to the second round this year. In roughly two hours, they had to complete 30 multiple-choice questions and eight more complex problems. The resources available on the IBO website, as well as past exams, offer a useful way to prepare for this very challenging test and familiarize yourself with the format. Overall, I can say that there is no foolproof way to prepare for this round, as some of the questions present challenges even for biology teachers with a degree in biology.

 

Final Presentation

The top 10 participants from Hesse in the second round will then be invited to Darmstadt as a “reward for their achievements.” Working in teams of two, under the guidance and supervision of a lecturer, we were able to set up bacterial cultures, measure and record their growth, and perform biochemical procedures such as plasmid isolation, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and gel electrophoresis ourselves. On one of the four days, we had the opportunity to explore other areas of biology in small groups and actively try out more complex biological techniques. In addition to topics such as neurophysiology (measuring action potentials in neurons), fluorescence and electron microscopy (learning about and testing how they work), and RNA methods (Western blotting), we also explored live-cell imaging. My experience in the field of live-cell microscopy was very positive, as we received excellent guidance and the professor in charge even took the time personally to answer our questions. The program concluded with short presentations by each small group on their findings from the individual experiments.

I was very pleasantly surprised by the work in the lab at TU Darmstadt, and since the internship isn’t graded, I can really recommend it!

 

Encouragement to Participate

To all interested high school students: If you’d like to give yourself the chance this year to challenge yourself and—by participating—not only earn credit toward your biology qualification but also gain hands-on experience working in a university lab under the guidance of a professional instructor, talk to your biology teacher and start working on the first-round assignments for this year’s Biology Olympiad as early as April! Have fun and good luck! (My results: Round 1: 13th place in Hesse, 182nd out of 1,165 in Germany; Round 2: 6th place in Hesse, 54th out of 518 in Germany)

(Carolin Mauersberger)

Open Stage 2020: Talented performers make for a wonderful and varied evening

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Every year, the event called “Open Stage” demonstrates that Steinmühle is not only a successful school but also a breeding ground for talent. Here, students from all grade levels take the opportunity to showcase their cultural contributions—guided and supported by the music department and other teachers.

At the end of February, nearly 150 audience members gathered at the Forum to enjoy another entertaining evening. Naturally, the youngest high school students kicked things off. The 5th-grade language workshop, led by Kristina Sokoli, enchanted the audience with their well-rehearsed performance of “Step-Breath-Broomstroke” from Michael Ende’s *Momo*. The performers were Jana Farsch, Paul Fischer, Simon Glowacz, Annan Harnisch, Maximilian Schreyer, Summer Schulz, and Ida Sommer.

This performance was followed by Carlotta Meyer (6th grade) and Johanna Krausch (7th grade) on viola and violin. They successfully tackled pieces by Telemann and Aleksey Igudesmann. Social commentary was a must, and it was provided by Paul Fischer (Grade 5) with his anti-Lidl poem. A group of six students from the 5th-grade theater club, led by Melisande Lauginiger, also presented “Lammkeule,” a performance that made the audience smile and reflect. The cast included Sabine Auer, Emilia Berger, Philipp Dubinker, Ida Kraft, Karlson Obermeyer, and Louisa Röder.

The “4 Notenschlüssel,” featuring eighth-grader Nela Haeberle and her three fellow musicians, performed a high-level flute recital. The audience had never heard anything like it!

Felix Müller was a real surprise of the evening. Accompanied by Ulrike Wilmsmeyer on the piano, the tenth-grader—despite having a cold—performed Giuseppe Giordani’s song “Caro mio ben” in such a way that it gave the audience that famous “goosebumps” feeling. A graduate of a classical vocal training program, he regularly competes in various singing competitions.

The evening, hosted by Ulrike Wilmsmeyer, drew to a close with spirited song performances by Talea Funk (11th grade) and Evelyn Damer (12th grade), followed by a performance by Fynn Konnertz. The guitarist skillfully “played right through” a broken string—in the literal sense—before Tom Herfert on tenor saxophone and Frank Wemme on keyboard brought the successful evening to a close. Tom Herfert, too, once began where many lower-grade students first encounter the instrument: in the wind ensemble class. Matthäus Otte from Sound & Light was responsible for ensuring that the deserving participants remained in the spotlight throughout the evening.

(Angela Heinemann)

Steinmühle won top honors and special prizes at regional “Jugend Forscht” competitions

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With a total of six projects, Steinmühle competed this year in the regional competitions in Lollar and Kassel. Three teams took first place, thereby qualifying for the state competitions in Darmstadt and Kassel in the “Schüler experimentieren” category. Three teams earned a special award.

Noteworthy is the participation of teams from various grade levels—from the lower school to the upper school. Grade 6 was represented twice, while grades 8, 9, 11, and 13 were each represented once. The subject areas were also quite diverse: research and experiments were conducted three times in biology and once each in chemistry, physics, and earth and space sciences.

Leonard Berger, Mats Egbring, and Leontin Schmidt were the sixth-graders who, in the “Schüler experimentieren” under the guidance of teachers Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf and Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, and also took home the special prize for environmental technology. They compared organic fields with conventional fields. In doing so, they analyzed a total of nearly 20 soil samples and found that organic fields scored highly both due to their low nitrate levels and their ability to bind and subsequently release nutrients. Conventional fields—and especially those fertilized with liquid manure—almost universally exhibited concerning levels of nitrate and nitrite. The jury deemed the topic, the project, and its results worthy of the highest possible ranking. Next up is the state competition in Kassel.

 

Not enough oxygen in the shoe

Morten Köhler, Benjamin Schul, and Joshua Wieder from 9th grade investigated why heat pads don’t work in ski boots. The three students had gotten cold feet during the Steinmühle ski trip and noticed that heat pads for feet—which are supposed to provide relief—work very poorly. They investigated the chemical reaction and found—in part by measuring temperature and oxygen curves—that there is simply not enough oxygen inside ski boots. As a result, the desired reaction quickly comes to a halt.

Under the guidance of teacher Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf, they used smartphone-controlled temperature sensors and an oxygen probe controlled by an Arduino. Arduino microcontroller boards were first introduced at Steinmühle by Malte Klimczak in the elective technology class and were also used here to address chemistry problems. These three students also won first place in chemistry for the best interdisciplinary project and can look forward to competing in the state competition in Darmstadt.

 

How Flour Beetles “Break Down” Styrofoam

Clara Müller, Marie Englert, and Jennifer Weber, all 11th-grade students, investigated—under the guidance of Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe—whether bacteria in the gut flora of mealworm larvae play a role in the degradation of Styrofoam. The students observed the feeding behavior of mealworm larvae (Tenebrio molitor) under various conditions. Using molecular biology methods (PCR, genomic and PCR DNA isolation, DNA quantification with a photometer, gel electrophoresis, and 16S rRNA gene sequencing performed by Eurofins Genomics, Ebersberg), they examined 230 different bacterial clones from the larvae’s gut flora for their phylogenetic relationships and their ability to degrade polystyrene. In the process, they identified several bacterial clones from the Enterobacteriaceae family that can degrade the plastic in a nutrient solution. The genome of one of these clones (Clone No. 43) was fully sequenced (approximately 6 million base pairs) by Eurofins Genomics on their behalf in order to search the genome for coding regions for enzymes that might be involved in styrene degradation. The students also presented a possible mechanism for the chemical process of styrene degradation. As a special prize, the trio received a one-year subscription to the scientific journal “Bild der Wissenschaft.”

 

Connecting with the University Through a Competition

Ronja Rosenkranz, a 13th-grade student, impressed the jury in the physics category. She investigated what causes voice changes when inhaling helium. Students asked themselves this question in the 5th-grade NaUnt course taught by Dr. Jutta Töhl-Borsdorf. Ronja quickly realized that the explanation found almost everywhere is only partially correct and that the phenomenon is much more complex than previously thought. She developed various experimental setups to get to the bottom of the matter. The jury particularly emphasized her highly scientific approach to this question. Through the competition, she quickly established contacts with the University of Marburg, making it possible to conduct measurements in the Department of Phoniatrics. First place in physics for this project and the special prize for acoustics also qualify Ronja Rosenkranz for the state competition in Darmstadt.

 

What Earthworms Like

In the “Schüler experimentieren” competition, led by Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, young researchers Teresa Dinges (Class 6b) and Sophia Rogosch (6c) investigated the potential effects of earthworms on soil and climate. In this project, the students took a close look at the behavior of the native earthworm Lumbricus terrestris and its interaction with soil bacteria. In the process, they discovered:

  • the type of soil that earthworms prefer
  • what soil conditions he avoids (pH level, calcareous soil, sandy soil, etc.)
  • that earthworms produce significant amounts of the greenhouse gas CO2 in the soil through their interaction with soil bacteria.
  • that the bacterial families present in the soil differ from those found in earthworm feces.

 

The Environment of Horsehide

Silas Krüger and Jan Vollmer (both in Class 8c) wanted to learn more about “life on a horse’s skin.” Under the guidance of Dr. Dietmar von der Ahe, the students examined various skin areas of two horses (skin, ear, nose, mouth) for bacterial colonization—the so-called microbiome. In the process, they discovered that the summer microbiome differs significantly from the winter microbiome—that is, different bacterial families are found on the various skin areas in summer than in winter. This corresponds to the different skin functions under varying climatic conditions.

 

Escapes from reality into art, music, literature, or physical relaxation: The Advanced Art Class designed escape pods

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Students in the advanced art class concluded their exploration of architecture and design by developing artistic ideas for the public space at the Steinmühle. They were tasked with creating a design and model for an escape capsule, or “escape vehicle.” The capsule’s interior was intended to provide a space to escape the daily routine at Steinmühle and immerse oneself in another world.

 

A Dream World Made of Books by Natalia Bieker

This escape pod isn’t just filled with books and stories—the floor is made of text, and even the shell, roof, and walls are modeled after the appearance of an old, open book. The space invites visitors to make themselves comfortable in the realm of words.

 

“Creative Escape Vehicle” by Lea Zessin

The exterior of this art capsule resembles a White Cube that has lost its sharp corners. Daylight floods the studio from the roof and the north side. Inside, canvases, an easel, and paints are ready to give shape to his inner visions.

 

Sound Space by Jieni Zhang

This space, which resembles a speaker cabinet even from the outside, is entirely dedicated to sound. Inside the darkened room, visitors can relax and lose themselves in the music, escaping the sounds of everyday school life. The millwheel at the entrance to the cabinet echoes the stone mill logo.

 

Meditation Room – Room of Silence by Jieni Zhang

In this stone-like, circular room, small lights in the vaulted ceiling remind visitors of a starry sky. They can settle down on the soft floor and meditate.

 

A Wellness Oasis by Selin Canim

This room contains nothing but a large waterbed with massage jets. Depending on the visitor’s level of tension, this wellness bed offers everything from a gentle, sleep-inducing bubbling sensation to a invigorating back massage.

(Ines Vielhaben)

 

 
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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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