Posted by Katie Kinsey
On May 20, I was given the opportunity to visit the Conerus-Schule, a vocational-type school in Norden, Germany. I was toured around the school by the “Oberstudiendirektor” (Headmaster), Roger Scheweling. Mr. Scheweling is also a member of the Norden Rotary Club. An English teacher by the name of Claudia Walker accompanied us on our tour as an interpreter.
On May 20, I was given the opportunity to visit the Conerus-Schule, a vocational-type school in Norden, Germany. I was toured around the school by the “Oberstudiendirektor” (Headmaster), Roger Scheweling. Mr. Scheweling is also a member of the Norden Rotary Club. An English teacher by the name of Claudia Walker accompanied us on our tour as an interpreter.
During my tour at the Conerus-Schule, I was able to learn a lot about Germany’s different types of high schools and vocational schools. Germany has three different types of high schools that students may attend based on their primary school performance, parental advising and their preferences. The school I visited today is where students who want to go into a specific trade attend.
The school moto is “Doon, deit, lehren”. This roughly translates to “Learn by doing.” Students who attend the Conerus-Schule are in their 10th, 11th, or 12th year of school. Students can decide to be in an apprenticeship-styled program, with classes three days a week, or they can choose to study for their advanced certificate in order to attend university in the future.
Students at Conerus are able to study trades such as cosmetology, HVAC, welding, computer repair, culinary arts, auto mechanics, tourism, economics, and elder care. The school receives many donations and assistance from local companies such as Volkswagen (VW). For example, the auto mechanics garage has a brand new VW Polo to practice on that was donated to the school. VW is a major industry in the city of Norden and they take many of the top performing auto mechanic students each year to study in their apprentice school.
I was very impressed by the level of maturity and engagement of the students I observed, especially the students using power tools such as welding instruments and wood saws. I know that many of us would be very nervous to give high school students scissors when we are not able to observe them all at one time, let alone a saw! The students were polite and they even let me take pictures.
The culinary arts classes were the best! The hallways smelled amazing from the freshly baked pastries and homemade soups.
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