German Unity Day at DISD with guest of honor Consul General Sybille Pfaff

On the occasion of the German Unity Day, the student- and teachers experienced a special project day at DISD.

In kindergarten, the children learned about the fall of the Berlin Wall with a short play performed by ninth graders. They enthusiastically waved their self-made German flags during the subsequent reunification song. At Primary School , small projects took place to mark the special day. For example, the third grade prepared potato salad and the first graders learned about the letter E in the colors black, red and gold.

A large community project took place at Secondary School to mark German Unity Day. To kick things off, everyone gathered in the school cafeteria. In a short speech, principal Mr. Lummel talked about how he experienced the fall of the wall on November 9, 1989 and how the thought of that moment still gives him goose bumps. Afterwards the Head of History, Mrs. Alexandra Stenzel presented the project which was then worked on in the classes. Each class from grade 5 to 10 was assigned one of the 16 states. The student*innen were allowed to occupy themselves with work assignments to the Land. Not only the subject history found influence, but also mathematics, German, art or geography. The student*innen provided for example statistics over the Land, looked for the five largest districts with surface and number of inhabitants out and provided in addition bar diagrams. Which famous artists come from this federal state and what works have they created? What cultural events take place regularly in this state? Are there any special museums or galleries to visit to learn more about local art and culture? What must-see attractions should be visited and why? The student*research famous authors and poets, learned about their life dates and most famous works, and then recorded a fictional interview where they asked the author about his or her life. Each class created a scale poster of their respective state for this purpose. The student*innen of the classes 11 and 12 visited all classes in two school hours and informed in a presentation about the most important facts of the reunification and held a workshop afterwards.

Finally, the results of the classes were unveiled in the form of a giant map of Germany in the cafeteria to great applause. Guest of honor at the closing ceremony was Consul General Sybille Pfaff, who addressed the school community in a short speech. "As students of a German school abroad student you are ambassadors of our culture here in Dubai and I would like to say a big thank you for that," said Consul General Sybille Pfaff, earning great applause from the student body.

The elementary school choir enchanted the cafeteria with a performance of the national anthem. "We celebrated this day together as a school community and at the same time strengthened the bond of our student*innen to Germany in project form," explained history department head Alexandra Stenzel in conclusion. She looks back with satisfaction on a successful project day.

The results of the students' work can be viewed at the following link: