From February 17th to 23rd, 2019, representatives from the Wilma-Rudolph-School, the Paulsen-Gymnasium, and the Willi-Graf-Gymnasium, along with members of their student councils, gathered at the wannseeFORUM for a student council seminar. The seminar theme was "Solidarity." The week began with a brief introduction to the topic and presentations from each school. Each school highlighted areas where its students acted in solidarity. Afterward, everyone divided into five artistic workshops. In addition to discussions about the situation at their respective schools and student council activities, the students worked on their projects in the workshops, which they presented at the end of the week.
The theater, film, comics, rap and black-and-white photography groups explored the theme of "solidarity" in a variety of ways, focusing on different aspects such as the Fridays for Future movement and sexual diversity.
On Saturday, a student council meeting was simulated. Based on the topics discussed throughout the week, the students developed proposals, which they then presented at the meeting in the fictional school. Students also took on the roles of parent and teacher representatives, as well as the student body president. Everyone had the opportunity to discuss and vote on the proposals, with the goal of applying this experience to their own schools and improving their student councils.
Gaining a complete understanding of the concept of solidarity occupied us all week. The word was explored in a variety of creative ways until, finally, the concept of "solidary" rather than "solidaristic" stuck in everyone's minds, and our brains were working harder than before.
Throughout the week, the students also had the opportunity to contribute their ideas, organize, and moderate the morning plenary sessions and the evening programs. For example, they played Capture the Flag and held a quiz night. The week culminated in a successful closing buffet and party.
On Sunday, we concluded the seminar with a slideshow and a joint evaluation of the week.
We wish all participants every success in their future student government work and look forward to seeing them again next year.