Of the 130 eligible students in attendance, 83 signed up. DKMS officials described the fact that nearly two-thirds of those present were willing to become stem cell donors as an exceptionally high rate and a major success in the fight against blood cancer. A heartfelt thank you to everyone who participated!

In collaboration with DKMS, the German Bone Marrow Donor Registry, Steinmühle hosted an information and typing event on Monday, May 11, 2015, for all students aged 17 and older. The event was part of the “Leben spenden macht Schule” series, through which the DKMS raises awareness about blood cancer in schools and recruits potential bone marrow donors.

The students first learned how bone marrow donations can save lives and why registration in a global donor database is necessary. Next, the process of typing and the two forms of stem cell donation were explained. The stories shared by donors Steffi and Konstantin drew particular attention. The two described how bone marrow was extracted from their hip bones under general anesthesia. This complex method—which, unlike a simpler, dialysis-like procedure, is used in only about 20% of cases—had been performed on Konstantin just five days earlier.

The “fresh” donor’s excellent physical condition and his joy at having saved a life certainly contributed to the success of the subsequent registration. The registration was conducted using a cotton swab to collect a buccal swab sample and was supported by volunteers (15 teachers, two students, and one parent). After the event, the tissue samples collected were sent to a laboratory, where they were analyzed and made available for the global donor search.

At this year’s Bands on Stage At the Steinmühle, it wasn’t just the “Band 5/6” school groups that performed, “Linda Balser & Hannah Boßhammer”, the “StoneMill House Band” and the jazz musicians from “The Suited” her extraordinary musicality—including the “Couch Potatoes” from the Marburg Music School and the “Crazy Crackers” The kids from the Compass Youth Center really let loose.

First, fourteen students from grades 5 and 6 got the show off to a rousing start. From their still modest repertoire, they performed their most energetic numbers and put the audience in high spirits with “Go Down Moses,” “Stay,” and “99 Luftballons.” Mr. Wemme had quickly formed a surprisingly harmonious ensemble with the young band, and Telea Funk once again showcased her amazing voice.

And the band Compass “Crazy Crackers” followed right up with “Zuhause.” Brothers Samuel and Aaron Ruff put their singer, Can Sisamci, in the spotlight, and he gave it his all. It’s rare to see a boy his age who has such masterful control over his voice and whose performance is so compelling—thanks to the band’s manager, Tina Kuhm! The closing song, “Feeling Good,” brought audible joy to the audience.

The jazz group “The Suited” performed “I Remember Clifford” and “St. Thomas,” two challenging jazz standards from the 1950s, through which the six musicians, led by Frank Wemme, were able to demonstrate what is possible when enthusiastic students enjoy playing together over the course of many years.

In the end, it was mostly blues. The “StoneMill House Band”, whose sound is characterized by a strong horn section and the voices of Paula Stauzebach, Sonja Mecke, and Linda Balser, drew on their extensive experience to perform some of their best songs and, with a fantastic performance, provided a wonderful conclusion to an evening full of pleasant surprises.

At the “season opener” after the Easter break, the rowers from Steinmühle had plenty to celebrate. The athletes are looking forward to the 2015 rowing season with great optimism. Winter training was very effective, as was already evident in several indoor competitions. Things are going great for Lucas Schäfer, Marburg’s 2014 Athlete of the Year; the club is in good shape; and now they’ve even christened a new four-man boat to kick off the season.

Fortunately, the work of the Steinmühlen rowers is also appreciated and recognized by others. Jürgen Hertlein, chairman of the sports association; Marian Zachow, first deputy district administrator; and Björn Backes from the City of Marburg’s Sports Office were all eager to attend the christening of the new boat.

The new four-person boat was funded by the school and will help further support the“Steinmühle and blista in the Same Boat” project. This also gave Claus Duncker, the chairman of blista, another opportunity to watch his students at work on the water.

Lucas Schäfer was also there for the season opener and was greeted with great fanfare, as he had won silver in the lightweight coxless pair over 2,000 meters at the German Championships on Beetzsee in Brandenburg/Havel, where he had won silver in the lightweight coxless pair over 2,000 meters in the final race with Alexander Diedrich from Treis-Karden. For Lucas, this runner-up finish at the German Championships is another step toward earning a spot on one of the national team’s boats.

This is how practical traditional math classes can be: The Steinmühle School & Boarding School in Marburg, Hesse, offers a so-called “Math Track,” a project in which students interested in and talented at math can try their hand at proofs and computational models related to practical problems. This year, the project’s theme was “Extreme Value Problems.” Students were challenged to come up with their own problems involving extreme value calculations.

At MILRAM, the experiment itself, as well as the results and the students’ assessment, were met with unanimous enthusiasm. “A great idea that we have to reward,” was the unanimous consensus. And so, in close consultation with the boarding school’s administration, the idea emerged to reward not only the two students but the entire math project for their dedication and their clever, practical calculation model. That’s why MILRAM is treating the entire class to a full breakfast on the first day of the upcoming school year—September 8, 2014—featuring, of course, plenty of delicious and healthy MILRAM products. For MILRAM, this is the perfect way to say “thank you” for an original project and, at the same time, set an example of modern customer engagement. For Sven Kreitz, Head of Food Service Marketing, initiatives like this are a “formula for success that enables direct dialogue with customers and positions MILRAM as a responsive partner.”

(Press release from MILRAM: http://www.milram-food-service.de/mein-profibereich/schulmilch/matheprojekt.html)

She hadn’t been exaggerating: In the October letter to parents, hammer thrower Isabel Weitzel sounded very confident when asked about the switch to the heavier women’s hammer. At the throwing meet in Niederselters on February 7, she handled the new 4-kg hammer with ease and achieved a distance of 48.20 m.

Isabel, an athlete on the DLV junior national team, immediately moved into 7th place on the DLV’s annual rankings.

However, Julius Grau is still 6 cm short of making the DLV’s annual high jump leaderboard. At the South German Championships in Karlsruhe on the first weekend of February, he once again cleared 1.87 m and finished in a commendable third place in his U18 age group.

The school community wishes both track and field athletes good luck and success for the new season—and hopes it will be injury-free!