The “STEM-friendly school” award has been a permanent fixture here for years; participation in “Youth researches” projects is a matter of course. Its clear focus on mathematics and science has now earned the Erasmus Reinhold High School in Saalfeld-Gorndorf a financial contribution from Rudolstadt.
“More than ever, we will need young talents in science and technology in the future in order to successfully shape technological change,” emphasized Benjamin Redlingshöfer, Managing Director of the Thuringian Institute for Textile and Plastics Research Rudolstadt e.V. (TITK), as he symbolically presented a donation of EUR 1,600. The Erasmus-Reinhold-High School enjoys an excellent reputation as a promoter of young talent in the STEM subjects. “This commitment deserves every support,” said Redlingshöfer.
Not only Eirik Otto, the chairman of the school support association, but also principal Uwe Wolfram and Robert Heinel from the physics faculty were of course pleased to hear this. The latter had a purpose in mind immediately after the TITK Group pledged the donation: “We have at least one advanced physics course every year. We would like to expand our physics collection with additional equipment for interesting school experiments so that we can not only prepare the scientifically gifted pupils for their A-level exams, but also support them in various projects in the seminar subject or in current 'Youth researches' projects,” said Heinel.
No sooner said than done. The order has already been placed and will hopefully arrive this year. Thanks to the donation, three versatile function generators as well as an oscillation generator and attachments will now be purchased. “In addition to supporting individual project groups, we will also be able to enhance our physics lessons in order to get more pupils interested in the subject,” says Heinel. With the help of the new equipment, wave properties, for example, can be demonstrated much more vividly in future.
Principal Uwe Wolfram also expressed his sincere thanks for the donation on behalf of his entire team. The Erasmus Reinhold High School currently teaches physics to 433 pupils in grades 7 to 12. In addition, nine project groups are currently working on physics topics in the “Youth researches” competition or in their seminar subjects.
