"Wir reden mit!" – Hauptschüler machen gemeinsame Sache

With its musical project "Wir sind 1!", Bachschule school in Offenbach emerged as the winner of the new competition, "Wir reden mit!". Head of the State Chancellery of Hessen, Steffan Grüttner, and the Robert Bosch Stiftung Chairman, Dieter Berg, today presented the prizes to the winner and runners-up. The prizes carry purses of up to 3,000 euros.

"The aim of this prize is to reward initiatives that help support good relations between lower secondary school students with and without immigrant backgrounds and help improve their language and social skills," State Minister Stefan Grüttner said today at the prizegiving ceremony in the State Chancellery of Hessen. These skills improve the students' prospects in their personal lives, in vocational training, and at work.

Dieter Berg, Chairman of the Management Board of Robert Bosch Stiftung, said: "Language is the basis of all communication and a prerequisite for access to education and a successful career. What could be more obvious, therefore, than to improve the students' command of German, their shared language?"

16 projects were sponsored in the course of the "Wir reden mit!" initiative. Three were selected as the prizewinners. "Wir sind 1!" is the title of a musical produced by the fifth grade students of the Bachschule in Offenbach. The musical won the first prize of 3,000 euros. With help from the professional rapper Domenico Visciani and their school band, 23 students staged and premiered the musical. The students have already noticed one initial important effect: "Since we started the project, there is less argument and fighting." The second prize (2,000 euros) went to Otto Hahn School for the film/fairytale project "Brüder-Grimm-Stadt Hanau – Our Fairytale City". The Theißtal School in Niedernhausen received the third prize of 1,000 euros for "Theater: Das gestohlene Rezept" (The Stolen Recipe).

All projects in the "Wir reden mit!" competition should be incorporated into daily life and work at the schools on a permanent basis if possible. Theater, speech and journalism exercises enable the participating students – from migrant backgrounds and otherwise – to learn how to express themselves well and with self-assurance. They form their own opinions and learn how to express their views objectively in conversation as well as listen to others. The project shows that any conflict can be solved if it is addressed with an open mind and the determination to resolve it.

A new round of the "Wir reden mit!" competition for the fifth to eighth grades opens at the start of the 2007/2008 school year. Once again, up to 20 secondary school classes will be chosen by an independent jury and will each receive a maximum of 1,500 euros in sponsorship.