For the Nelson Mandela School, 5 June 2024 will be remembered as a historic event: For the first time since the school was founded in 2000, a school senator will visit our school. Senator Günther-Wünsch, herself a former deputy headmistress and at times a specialist teacher in Namibia and South Africa, was accompanied by her State Secretary for Education of the State of Berlin, Christina Henke, as well as Sandra Khalatbari, Member of Parliament and Chairperson of the Committee for Education, Youth and Family Affairs, who has a special connection to our school as a former member of the General Parents' Council, and the Head of Department of Centrally Administered Schools, Grit Orgis.
Ninety minutes of lessons pass quickly, as did the eventful day with our political guests, which began with a lively exchange on educational policy issues with representatives of the school management, the committees and the student representatives of the NMS. The Senator focussed in particular on the concerns of our pupils.
During a subsequent tour, Mrs Günther-Wünsch and her colleagues were given an insight into current projects and lessons at our school. For example, a Tiny House was designed in the WPU/profile course in art under the direction of Detlef Wingerath and colleagues in the run-up to the European elections. It was on display at the Europa Kiezfest, where pupils from the Nelson Mandela School presented themselves with a "Game Lab Europe".
In the science labs, the students of the IB 12 Biology and Physics courses presented the IB Diploma Programme, which is offered in parallel to the German Abitur as an international university degree and is recognized at universities worldwide. The IBDP (International Baccalaureate Diploma Program) is a high-quality two-year IB course that is only offered at the Nelson Mandela School in Berlin's state schools. The aim of the IBDP is to develop students physically, intellectually, emotionally and ethically in addition to their subject knowledge. Our future graduates impressively illustrated scientific working methods using the example of DNA extraction from strawberries, which could be admired directly under the microscope, and explained everyday phenomena - why cutting onions is a tearful affair and which chemical reactions are responsible, for example. Impressively illuminated, our physicists presented the formation of water waves on a model.
The musical finale of the school tour was provided by the young PopChoir, founded three years ago and conducted by Felix Theuner (recently also heard in the Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie Berlin), whose interpretation of Rhihanna's "Stay" was an atmospheric invitation to linger in class.
We would like to thank everyone for the eventful and special day and look forward to future meetings and educational projects.
(Text und Foto:s Dr. Astrid Ahke)