Our School and its Neighbourhood.

Advent Coffee and Traditional Kale Meal: A 30 year tradition – students host neighbours

In the beginning, almost 30 years ago, it was a celebration of the people living in our neighbourhood, the Wifo-Siedlung, where the school auditorium was used as a village hall, and students provided a “catering service” – Now for almost 20 years students have invited all our neighbours to join us: in December for advent coffee, in January for a traditional kale meal and in the summer for a grand barbecue.

Last year’s advent coffee took place on 13 December 2017 and more than a dozen neighbours bought tickets (printed by the students). The guests enjoyed – as in every year – homemade cakes, a tasteful Christmas decoration and a very professional service provided by the dedicated students of class 15.1.

No wonder, because this was the third time they had arranged a celebration of this type for our neighbours. Christiane Warner, Thomas Albers and Martina Wilken-Kurz, from the teaching staff, were able to observe how students benefit each year from their experiences in this neighbourhood campaign.

For class 17.1, it was the first time that more than 30 neighbours honoured the invitation and joined us for a traditional kale meal with smoked meats on 23 January 2018. Teacher Anja Domning-Frieske reported: “The students were very excited, it was a new experience for them. And it was a very long day. They coped wonderfully and did everything really well.”

The excitement was not least owed to the beverage sales, where students had to be polite and friendly and make exact calculations at the same time.

The event was a great success and the neighbourhood was very impressed by the courtesy shown by the students. Mona Bauermeister and Imke Meyer-Hinken from the teaching staff were very satisfied with their dedicated students.