Graduation ceremonies usually follow a similar pattern. When the graduation certificates are handed out, the older people give the younger people wise advice, decorated with aphorisms and philosophical parables, to help them on their way. This is also the case at the ceremony in the auditorium of the Haller Schulzentrum West. But many things are still very different here.
The motto of the celebration, “Rabits – The guinea pigs are out”, has a turbulent history. The establishment of the upper school at the Johannes-Brenz-Gemeinschaftsschule was accompanied by heated political trench warfare in 2020 and was pushed through by the school board against the resistance of conservative voices from the local council and district council. Even district administrator Gerhard Bauer made his opposition clear at the time.
Overall average of 2.3
The 23 young men and women taking center stage this afternoon are now the first year group to pass the school-leaving examination at the community school. They did so with flying colors and an overall grade point average of 2.3. Several students can be pleased about their personal results with an A before the decimal point.
Amelie Wurst achieved the best school-leaving certificate with an average of 1.3. She also took home the subject prizes in fine arts, biology and physics. The prize of the Society of German Chemists goes to Marco Weller, who achieved an Abitur average of 1.4.
Jenny Klenk is awarded the Scheffel Prize for German. In her speech, she talks about the PowerPoint presentation that Achim Knaack, one of the two heads of department of the new upper school, which was established in 2021, used to prepare her and her classmates for the upcoming workload. “This is a real board,” he kept saying. The warning was justified. “Lunchtime school four times a week and some days with lessons from 7.40 am to 5 pm. You didn’t even have time for the math tutoring you might have needed,” reports
Jenny says, “But we’re still standing here now. We’ve reached the finish line of our marathon and we can all be proud.”
On the path to your destination
“You set out and took this path, probably a beaten track most of the time. But you took the risk and got there,” says Christoph Klenk, Head of the city’s Early Childhood Education, Schools and Sport department, in his speech, visibly moved. “With this alone, you have proven that the decision to attend the upper school was the right one.” He is very proud to have played a part in the development.
The teaching staff were very interested in their learning success and were always friendly, open-minded and attentive to the students, reveals Matthias Imkampe, examination chairman and teacher at Erasmus-Widmann Gymnasium, who was confided in by some of the school-leavers and adds with a smile: “I was almost a little envious.”
Follow your inner compass
The best speech comes from department head Achim Stark. “Unlike ships, nobody can steal education from you. That’s why investing in education is my
Never wasted in my opinion,” emphasizes the physics teacher in the outfit of the cult pirate Jack Sparrow from “Pirates of the Caribbean”. He has Sparrow’s legendary compass with him, which always points to the destination that its owner desires most. “I wish you an inner compass that follows your heart and shows you your way,” he says, openly fighting back tears of emotion amid frenetic cheering in the hall.
Principal Andrea Fürle sings the praises of the idea of the community school: “A school where everyone can set their own goals, take off on many paths into their own future and where the joy of lifelong learning is awakened.” There were times when parents had to justify sending their children to a school like this, Fürle looks back and beams: “Today at the latest, you can proudly say: it was a good path.”
Quelle: Text und Bilder Beatrice Schnelle für das Haller Tagblatt.
