Social Engagement

This year, students at Steinmühlen donated a total of 37 school backpacks to children in Marburg’s sister city, Sibiu. Principal Bernd Holly recently announced this result, which actually surpassed last year’s total. As in previous years, he had asked families to donate school backpacks that were no longer needed at the start of the school year to support this good cause. After all, in almost all cases, the backpacks are still in very good condition.

Through this gesture, Steinmühle regularly participates in the initiative of the Children’s and Youth Parliament (KiJuPa), which has been supporting students in need in Sibiu with donations since 2010. Toward the end of the year, the backpacks are transported to Sibiu in collaboration with the organization “Hilfe für Sibiu/Hermannstadt,” and it is not uncommon for them to appear on the Christmas gift table for children who cannot afford backpacks.

Since the Steinmühle no longer uses chalkboards, 18 complete school blackboards were donated to Sibiu as early as this spring with the help of the THW, reports Bernd Holly. So far, more than 200 school backpacks from the Steinmühle have arrived in Sibiu.

On class project day, students regularly engage in activities outside of school. The goal is to experience life “out there,” and often there are specific tasks the students set for themselves. It’s not uncommon for these to involve social service. Class 8a, for example, recently dedicated itself to serving the community. Teacher Gisela Opper reports:

On the class project day, after having breakfast together, Class 8a took part in the “Cleaner Way to School” campaign. Some students had explored the topics of “plastic waste in water” and “waste prevention” as part of their water-related project, so participating in this campaign was a natural fit. Equipped by the DBM with trash grabbers, trash bags, and gloves as needed, they walked from the Steinmühle to the Südbahnhof. Along the way, they eagerly collected paper, various types of packaging, bottles, cans, bottle caps, hundreds of discarded cigarette butts, and all sorts of unidentifiable items. “A cool activity—we could do this again, maybe with the whole school,” was one comment. The plan to walk all the way to Rudolfsplatz was abandoned due to time constraints and the intense heat. This allowed some students to take a well-deserved dip in the cool water at the lake afterward.