Abitur celebrations usually follow a similar pattern. When the graduation certificates are handed out, the older generation gives the younger ones wise advice on their way ahead, decorated with aphorisms and philosophical parables. This is also the case at the ceremony in the hall of the Haller Schulzentrum West. But a lot here is thoroughly different.
The motto of the celebration, „Rabits – Die Versuchskaninchen büchsen aus“, has a turbulent backstory. The introduction of the sixth form at the Johannes-Brenz-Gemeinschaftsschule in 2020 was accompanied by heated political trench warfare, and the school authority pushed it through against the resistance of conservative voices in the town council and the district council. Even District Administrator Gerhard Bauer had made his opposition clear at the time.
Overall average of 2.3
The 23 young women and men who are the centre of attention this afternoon are now the first year group to have completed the final exams at the Gemeinschaftsschule. They did so with flying colours and an overall grade average of 2.3. Several pupils can be delighted with a personal result starting with a 1.
The best Abitur certificate goes to Amelie Wurst, with an average of 1.3. She also takes home the subject prizes in Art, Biology and Physics. The prize of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker goes to Marco Weller, who achieved an Abitur average of 1.4.
Jenny Klenk receives the Scheffel Prize for German. In her speech she talks about the PowerPoint presentation with which Achim Knaack, one of the two heads of department of the sixth form, which was newly established in 2021, prepared her and her classmates for the workload ahead. „That’s a real beast,“ he kept saying. The warning was justified. „Four lunchtime school sessions a week, and some days with lessons from 7.40 am to 5 pm. There was no time left even for the maths tutoring that we might have needed“, reports
Jenny, and concludes: „But now we’re standing here anyway. We’ve reached the finish line of our marathon, and we can all be proud.“
On the path to the finish line
„You set off and walked this path, most likely a trodden track for the most part. But you dared to do it and reached your goal“, says Christoph Klenk, head of the city’s department for Early Childhood Education, Schools and Sport, visibly moved in his speech. „That alone proves that the decision to introduce the sixth form was the right one.“ He said he was very proud to have helped with its development.
The teachers, says Matthias Imkampe, chair of the examination board and teacher at the Erasmus-Widmann Gymnasium, were very interested in their learning success and always friendly, open and attentive to the learners. He reveals what some of the graduates confided in him and adds with a smile: „I was almost a little envious.“
Following the inner compass
The most memorable speech comes from department head Achim Stark. „Unlike ships, education can’t be stolen from you by anyone. That is why investments in education are, in my
opinion, never wasted,“ stresses the physics teacher, dressed as the cult pirate Jack Sparrow from „Pirates of the Caribbean“. He has brought Sparrow’s legendary compass with him, which always points to the goal its owner desires most. „I wish you an inner compass that follows your heart and shows you your way,“ he says, and, to frenetic cheers from the hall, openly fights back tears of emotion.
Headteacher Andrea Fürle sings the praises of the idea of the Gemeinschaftsschule: „A school where everyone can set their own goals, get off to a flying start into their own future along many different paths, and where a joy in lifelong learning is awakened.“ There were times when parents had to justify themselves for sending their children to such a school, Fürle recalls, and she concludes with a beaming smile: „From today at the latest, you can proudly say: it was a good path.“
Source: text and photos Beatrice Schnelle for the Haller Tagblatt.
