"School without racism - School with courage"
Living up to the title 'School without racism - school with courage', all students, teachers and staff of Schillergymnasium will be even more committed to promote fair social behavior and care and will stand up against any kind of verbal and physical violence.
During an event held by the National SOR-SMC Project Coordinator of Saxony, Mr. Danilo Ziemen, this title was awarded to the school on August 26th, 2010. He was supported by the band 'Café Jazz', our project sponsor. Another guest was the mayor of Pirna, Mr. Christian Flörke.
In her speech, student representative Anna-Sophie Jann said:
"Our school is more than just a place where knowledge is conveyed. It is an important institution, in which cultural and interpersonal relations are being shaped and implemented in everyone's lives. School takes up a lot of our early life. Therefore, schools should be made as agreeable as possible, together with the social network that is created through it. We want to provide an atmosphere that is free of violence and intimidation."
Dear guests, members of the executive board, teachers and fellow students, this is a short extract from our school's code of conduct. The before-mentioned principles fit perfectly into the message of today's event, the awarding of the eagerly-awaited title 'School without racism - school with courage'. From now on, we belong to Germany's biggest school network, and thus our school has become part of a nation-wide initiative that wants to raise students' awareness of tolerance.
When we submitted the application for membership last year, we were not aiming at a fancy award. It was the idea behind the project that was much more important to us; an idea that we had alredy conceived in our school's code of conduct and that we still wanted to get across. We remembered the project 'School without racism - school with courage' and took initiative.
I think all of us enjoy a pleasant school atmosphere. And to make sure that it stays that way, everyone will have to play their full part. Mutual repect, actively confronting discrimination and establishing a joint approach - all of this is made possible by assistance from creative workshops and through other activities. I hope for an innovative exchange of views and a great cooperation with the band 'Café Jazz', that will advise and actively support us.
As the students' representative I can say that I am very happy that the effort was more than worth it and that we are now a 'School without racism', a 'School with courage'.
