Tuesday, July 9th: Today was a real privilege in the sense that I had the opportunity to visit a German school in Heidelberg and then visit the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt.
The school we visited is called a gynasium, meaning it is for students in the American equivalent to grades 5 through 12 who are ultimately tracked for college or university. In Germany, students are tracked and most of the tracking is determined by the fifth grade. At that point, students attend one of four types of schools, some that provide for mainly vocational training and the gymnasium which destines students for University. Students can change tracks, and the vocational tracks also provide for opportunities for higher education, as well as paid internships.
This particular school also focused on sustainability and had a garden and beehive, with lots of hands-on, experiential learning. Yes, students here do attend during the summer (and year-round for that matter), with no more than six weeks off at one time, being in late July through August. There was a lot of flexibility and the school was very laid back, but, it also did not have computers nor whiteboards for that matter in the classroom.
We ate lunch at the school and then took a 90-minute train ride to Frankfurt to meet representatives from Deutsche Bank and learn about their sustainability efforts. Deutsche also funds a great deal of this program and it was a privilege to hear how they have made a conscious effort as a bank to limit waste and minimize carbon footprint. We ate dinner that night at a wonderful German restaurant, had Applewine, and then walked around the city before heading back to Heidleberg.
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