Europe was not born in one single place. With "Birthplaces of Europe", the European School Munich is running a challenging project dealing with the history of different places in Europe. This school year the Greek, Italian, Slovenian, Slovakian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Polish and Portuguese participants went on an excursion to the Greek city of Thessaloniki. On Europe Day last Thursday, the pupils from the classes S1 to S6 presented their research on the city to guest of honour: The European School Munich was very pleased to welcome its patron for this project, the Greek Consul General in Munich, Mrs Panagiota Konstantinopoulou. The participation of Archimandrite Peter Klitsch, who teaches Greek Orthodox religious education in the primary school of the ESM, was also a great pleasure for everyone.

During the study trip to Thessaloniki in April, the students of the ESM discovered a variety of historical aspects within the city. They went on a day trip to Meteora, a religious unique area (see picture), and also visited the impressive royal tombs of Vergina. Following the Greek Consulate’s friendly invitation to visit the Town Hall, the students had a personal meeting with Thessaloniki’s mayor, Mr. Boutaris. He was enthusiastic about the school’s activities and gave the students useful educational material on the city’s history. The students did not only enjoy every single moment during their stay in Greece, they also discovered the Greek hospitality, got to know each other and made friends.

The students had spent a lot of time and effort throughout the year. On Europe Day they could finally show to the consul general what they had learned during their intensive engagement with Thessaloniki’s history and culture: The students gave talks about the time of ancient Greece, Roman and Byzantine history, the time of Christianisation and the city’s role in European history and in forming the Balkan. The children were also very interested in the era of German occupation during the rule of the Nazis and the genocide against the city’s Jews. Earlier in May the school was visited by Mrs. Alexandra Mitsiali, a multi-award winning Greek writer. She wrote a historical novel on the resistance during World War II, titled “Barefoot Heroes”.

The trip and the author’s visit made it possible for the pupils to get to know the city from multiple perspectives. The European School Munich thanks Mrs Konstantinopoulou and the Greek Consulate General very much for having made these unique experiences possible.

Involved teachers: •    Greek - P. Papakosta •    Italian - E. Gajeri •    Slovakian - J. Hesse •    Slovenian - K. Manfredini-Schmidt •    Bulgarian - R. Trifonova •    Romanian - E. Kasalicky •    Polish - A. Lidzbarska •    Portuguese - M. Pereira

Who can escape the magic of a great story that comes to life through a good reader? Cornelia Funke addresses this ability in her novel “Inkheart” and fascinates readers of all ages. Her novel has been translated into many languages and made into a film. The story of her novel heroes Meggie and Mo, who can “read” characters from books, enabling them to change from the fictitious to the real world, inspired a wide audience. Again this year, year 1 Secondary School pupils explored these novel heroes. As part of the nationwide reading aloud competition, the pupils trained and proved their magical abilities to bring stories to life.

Since October, the S1 German classes have been selecting the best readers. Pupils who wanted to take part in the reading competition faced the vote in class with readings from their favourite books – and tried to inspire their fellow pupils with their choice of books. Because before they gave a three-minute taste of their self-chosen book, they introduced the story and heroes of their book - which at best made their classmates want to read the book themselves.

The class winners who were chosen in class competed in the next round for the overall school winner on the 4th December 2018. In the John-Peryer room, they competed against and with each other in two rounds for the title of best reader. In the first round, they read a self-chosen passage from one of their favourite books. In the second round, they had to prove their skills by reading a unknown text chosen by the organisers of the competition. The reading performance was impressive. It was certainly not easy for the three-member jury, consisting of last year's winner Mara Banyai as well as Mrs Gassner and Mrs Gehring, to choose the “best” reader.

Finally, the school winners were determined: Lasse Schenke who read from “Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone” by J. K. Rowling. He will represent our school in the next round in January/February at the district level. Good luck! The second place went Arianna Schmidt-Kärst. The third place was scored by Lydia Myrthes Menescal Heath with a reading sample Cornelia Funke’s “Ink Heart”.

In the end, however, everyone was a winner – not only the winners, but also the other participants, who received book vouchers, ranging from 10 to 50 Euros, but also the audience members in class and the jury members, who were able to get to know impressive reading performances and enchanting books.