From September 2nd to 8th, 2019, 50 class representatives and committed students of the Friedrich-Ebert-Gymnasium, the Robert Jungk School and the Fritz Reuter School They gathered at the Wannsee Forum. Their goal was to prepare themselves for their roles as student representatives during the seven-day seminar and to exchange ideas with the other schools. To this end, an inventory was conducted in each school group at the beginning of the seminar, using the following guiding questions:
What's going well/badly at your school?
What should be improved at the school?
What can student representatives do about it?
During the subsequent presentation of each school, highlighting its respective focus areas and specific challenges, particular attention was paid to the work of the student council. It became clear that many of the issues facing the student council at one school were similar to those at other schools, or that solutions had even already been found. Thus, the discussions yielded thematic clusters for further work in the coming days.
On the afternoon of the first day, the students divided themselves into five creative workshops. Through a collaborative process, each workshop group agreed on its own thematic focus, which was further developed artistically throughout the week and ultimately presented to an audience. Video group dealt with the deliberate manipulation of information and produced the short film on the subject. „Fake News“. With the second short film „"Killer turtle"“ They also drew attention to environmental pollution caused by plastic waste. In the Theatre group The debates revolved around how to deal with right-wing female students. In the play, they presented a future in which the AfD (Alternative for Germany) has won the federal elections and dehumanizing remarks are aggressively voiced by classmates in the classroom. Since the teachers have little to counter this, the student council organizes a demonstration under the motto "Tuesday for Democracy" to send a message against discrimination and racism. The story of the Comic group acted as a parody of a well-known fictional character under the title „"Hairy Schnotter"“ about the students' fight for the introduction of teacher feedback. The comic was presented live as part of the final presentation and also printed and distributed as a booklet. In the Group Black and White Photography Several series were created on a wide variety of topics such as nature, ignorance and exclusion, equality and consumer society. In one Exhibition The pictures were presented and questions could be asked of the respective photographers. Audio group She produced three segments in which she interviewed passersby on the street about the following topics: A survey on political interest, voter turnout, the election results in Saxony and Brandenburg, the AfD's electoral successes, alternatives to the AfD, climate protection, and lowering the voting age to 16. A survey on sustainability, specifically the use of plastic bags and reusable bottles, the purchase of seasonal and regional products and organic meat, attitudes towards Fridays for Future, and avoiding air travel. A survey on gaming, asking how much time young people should spend on it and how much money they should spend on it.
On the penultimate day of the seminar, a simulated student council meeting was held as part of a role-playing exercise. Each group submitted a proposal, which was then discussed with the other groups and finally put to a vote. Topics included the renovation of the computer labs, teacher feedback, dealing with discrimination and racism, the creation of a green classroom, and the implementation of sustainability principles in the school.
After a review of the past few days and the awarding of participation certificates, all the students returned to their daily routines with renewed optimism. We wish them all the best in putting their newly acquired skills and project ideas into practice.
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