German School Guayaquil

Infobox School
name = German School Guayaquil
native_name = Colegio Alemán Humboldt Guayaquil
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streetaddress = Los Ceibos, Calle Dr. Héctor Romero 216
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city = Guayaquil
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province = Guayas
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country = EC
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affiliation = International Baccalaureate Organization
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founder = Renate Lemke
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principal = Dr. Werner Schiffer
viceprincipal = Lcda. Leticia del Hierro
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gender = coed
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type = Private
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grades = Kindergarten and K-12
age range = 3 to 18
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language = Spanish and German
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campus type = Urban
Hours_in_Day = 5, 6, 7 and 10 depending on the grade
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rival = German School, Quito
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sports = swimming, athletics, volleyball
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publication =
newspaper = Genau!
opened =
established = 1957
founded = 1959
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closed =
students = 2000
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homepage = [http://www.aleman.k12.ec www.aleman.k12.ec]

The German School of Guayaquil is a multilingual school in Guayaquil, Ecuador. It was founded in 1957 by Renate Lemke in order to meet the necessities of the German immigrants in the city.It is one of the 117 German schools abroad and one of the three German schools in Ecuador. It belongs to the International Baccalaureate Organization and offers the Diploma Program.cite web|url=http://www.ibo.org/school/001421/|title=Colegio Alemán Humboldt de Guayaquil|publisher="International Baccalaureate Organization"|accessdate=2008-07-17] The German School is considered one of the most prestigious and demanding schools in Ecuador.

History

The school was officially founded March the 10th of 1959 by Richard Zeller, a German immigrant who resided in Guayaquil. However, the school's history goes back to 1957 when Renate Lemke, a Kindergarten teacher opened a Day care for the children of German immigrants in her own home. By the end of the school year, she continued with an elementary school in another building, because the amount of students had raised. In 1958 the school moved to the newly inaugurated neighbourhood Urdesa. By then, the German School as it was known, had already a second grade.

In 1960 Federal Republic of Germany began to cooperate with the school and sent the first teachers abroad, then the school had a full elementary school. The same year, Renate Lemke served for the last time as headmaster.

By 1964 the campus in Urdesa was already too small for a growing school. The German School already had a full High School and that year the Kindergarten moved to Los Ceibos, again a new neighbourhood in expansion. Nevertheless it was only possible to completely moved in 1968 when Germany sent the money for the construction of the elementary school and the high school.

In 2008 started the plans to move again, this time to the uprising suburb Samborondón. The project involves first the Kindergarten and eventually the elementary school. It intends to leave the high school (5 to 12 grade) in Los Ceibos. The new project will turn the school once again apart, for the current students a huge challenge.

chool Terms

There are two academic halves in the year,
* The first half, from early April to late August. New children are only admitted by the first half, except when there are exceptional mitigating factors like coming from a city with other school terms.
* The second half, from mid September to late December or mid January. This half's end varies from year to year. Sometimes it ends before Christmas, sometimes there are two weeks Christmas holidays and then two to three weeks school in January. Mostly it depends on the rain season, which takes place in the big vacations (from December to March) and determines if the first term begins in early or mid April.

Uniform

Like all of Ecuadorian schools, the German School has a uniform for its pupils. On the beginning, a uniform was not mandatory because in Germany schools do not have a uniform, but already in the 60's this ended and the traditional uniform has been worn since then. It is also interesting to observe the development of fashion through the years and how students get to style themselves through the uniform. The school's open-minded direction has, contrary to Guayaquil's society, always permitted long or dyed hair and piercings for the boys, nail polish and earrings for the girls and the length of the skirts vary through the years also. This has branded German schools pupils as "modern" or "rebels".

The boys' uniform is gray trousers and a white Polo shirt with the school's logo. Girls wear a gray checkered skirt and the same polo shirt as boys. For both white socks and black shoes are mandatory. Although Guayaquil is a coastal warm city, it can get very windy and therefore "cold" in the mornings. The school's sweater is also gray with the school logo and is the only one allowed to be worn with the uniform.

For sport, both girls and boys wear black shorts with white T-shirts with the school logo and white trainers. There is also the possibility to wear the school's black sport trousers and sport sweater as part of the sport uniform if it is a cold morning.

Kindergarten boys wear gray shorts and girls a checkered gray jumper dress.

School magazine

The Genau! is the official school magazine. It was founded in 1986 and was then a sensation in the city, because school magazines where not usual. The Genau! has gone through high and low periods where it was poorly edited once a year for a few students.

The magazine was relaunched in 2005 and has even an Online Blog besides its paper form. Although it has an editorial board formed by high school students, collaboration from all grades is usual and encouraged by teachers of all subjects in order to offer a broad spectrum going from arts to math and politics.

The articles vary very much. Its paper form has usually more school-centered articles and some analysis and comments about different news and subjects. It also has a comic section developed by students. All graphics are drawn by pupils too. The Blog has a broader article spectrum and covers not only school subjects but many politics, arts and subjects of common concern as well.

The school is a member of the Trait d'Union, an international online multimedia magazine. Students participate with articles written in German.

Curriculum

The German School is known for its multilingual and international profile and its academic excellence in humanities and natural and exact sciences.

The school maintains a Kindergarten for children aged three to five, an elementary school for pupils aged six to 10 and a high school with a total of 2000 students.

The pupil to teacher ratio is 10:1, which is low by general and Ecuadorian school standards. Class sizes start at around twenty in the elementary school and Kindergarten (classes have 2 teachers) and are often around 15 by the final years.

The school runs a psychological department whose job is to counsel high school students about its college choice and majors. The counseling regarding German universities is very good and students are encouraged to study abroad. Approximately one third of the high school graduates chooses to study in that country.

Arts & music

Arts and music play an important role on the school's curriculum. There are special music and arts classes with all materials needed to learn. The school's walls have served as canvas for the pupils and their work is easy to find. The elementary school organizes an "Open Air Art Day" every year where children paint outside and parents and family are welcomed to observe. Many artistic projects are held every year and art and music are mandatory until the 8th grade, when students may to choose between one of them. It is also possible to take art as an A-Level (or High Level on the IBO Diploma) subject on high school.

The school's music teachers are trained musicians and as such can offer the best education possible. Students not only learn to read notes, but also to play instruments. The small ones begin with a recorder and a xylophone and is possible to learn the piano, among others, as an elective. There are school choirs for the kindergarten, elementary and high school and a rock band who has won the only school bands competition in the country.

ports

The school has its own swimming pool, athletics field, soccer, volleyball and basketball courts and a gym. In kindergarten children are taught to swim. Elementary school pupils have mandatory swimming and sport classes twice a week, while in high school only sport is mandatory and swimming an elective.

On the afternoons there's the possibility to do sports on one of the school's multiple sport activity clubs.

The Bundesjugendspiele (Federal Youth Sport Games) are held internally as in every school in Germany and pupils have the chance to get a diploma from the German President for their accomplishments.

Sports play an important role at the German School and because of that the students participate every two years in the South American German schools Competition called "Humboldt Spiele" and, as a preparation to it, in the annual swimming-volleyball-athletics competition against the German School of Quito. The school participates in national and regional youth competitions as well and has already won many national titles in different sports.

Languages

Children receive officially German language class from second grade on, nevertheless already in Kindergarten they are introduced by German teachers with games into the new language. English remains the second foreign language and its teaching begins in the third grade. The school has a cooperation agreement with the Alliance Française that makes it possible to learn French as an elective course already in the fifth grade.

Various subjects are teach in German at the high school depending on the teachers disposability. Maths, Biology, Art, physics and history are one of the courses that are always teach in German depending on the grade.

An English Language Project Week is organized every year by elementary school pupils of all grades who expose at the end of the week the projects. There's also a Spelling Bee Contest and a Short-Story Contest.

At the End of the 12 class, students are "Bachiller de la República del Ecuador" i.e. have an Ecuadorian high school diploma that allows them to continue their education in an university. Depending on the electives taken, pupils may obtain the International Baccalaureate Diploma or a German Diploma that allows them to enter a German University of Applied Sciences.

Exchange Programs

The school offers many exchange programs:
* At the end of the ninth grade, the whole class takes part in journey to Germany for 6 weeks. For 4 weeks the children live at a host family and attend a regular German Gymnasium. During the last two weeks they travel with accompanying school teachers and the rest of the class through Germany.
* By the end of the 11th grade, there's the possibility to make the 4 weeks mandatory internship in Germany. The school may help the students to find a suitable institution or firm or they find it by them selfs.
* The Pedagogical Exchange Service (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst), an institution of the German Government, awards excellent students with a trip to Germany together with other pupils of German Schools around the world. The scholarship consist of a 4 weeks cultural journey, all expenses paid, to Germany. The German School of Guayaquil has the privilege to choose among its 11 graders the one of the two best student in Ecuador to be awarded.
* There's a sport exchange program with sport Gymnasiums of Leipzig and Berlin. Only the most distinguished school's athletes may participate.
* The Science Camp of the University of Göttingen, the German Aerospace Center and the Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry organize a 3 weeks science exchange program for 12 graders around the world. Every year a pupil of the German School of Guayaquil is awarded with a scholarship to the science camp and receives there applied physics, neurophysiology, Immunology classes, among other natural sciences, from renowned scholars.

Traditions

One of the more cherished traditions is the "Laternen Fest" during the three Kindergarten years. "Laternen Fest" is a German tradition in remembrance of Martin of Tours. Kids draw and tinker their own paper lantern and participate on a school procession on St. Martin's Day where they light the lanterns and sing German songs. Being this a foreign festivity, it has become a loved day with great expectation among parents, teachers and children.

The "Día de campo" (country day) is a mix of children-oktoberfest and school fest. The "country day" is held in the school on the last Sunday of October and is organized by the parents counsil. For every child, one adult has to actively participate selling either food, watching for the children on the rides, selling ice cream or other activities. This particularity has made that everybody on the school's family has a sense of togetherness not only on that day, but always. Parents are more actively involved in their children's school as in the other schools of the city and many times old students send their children later to the German School, forming a family tradition out of the school. On the "Día de campo" typical German, Ecuadorian and other European countries food are offered, games, rides, sports, plays are held and, above all, the fireworks. This day has become a celebration of current and old students, teachers, families and German immigrants and is with certainty the most expected event on the school.

Charitable work

The German School of Guayaquil has a long charity tradition. The main program is school run since the 60's in the afternoons for children from low-income families. Part of the teachers are the same as in the morning and morning's pupils of the 11th grade must complete a mandatory social work year at the afternoon school. They usually work as Kindergarten teachers, sport, arts and informatics teachers or help the children with learning difficulties. Over 200 children attend the afternoon Kindergarten, elementary and high school.

The school also supports a food program, where students research and teach about the benefits of soy.

The third charitable program is run in cooperation with the University of Bielefeld and its aim is to help in the development of Daular, a town in the province Guayas. Together, they organize social development programs such as a water plant, electricity, a fish pool and a conservatory for self-sustainability and the construction of a school. Pupils, students and villagers work together in order to achieve the year's goal.

Trivia

The German School of Guayaquil is the only school in the city that doesn't offers catholic religion education either as an elective or mandatory subject. The German immigrants who founded the school had different backgrounds (protestant, jewish, catholic) and as the idea after the Second World War was to unite instead of separate, they decided the school would offer none. Until today, the German School is preferred by parents with other religions to the majority's catholicism. Nevertheless, most of the students are Catholics, but some Protestants, Jewish and atheists pupils attend to the school as well. All students learn together about the bible as part of literature class in the 10th grade. First Communion preparation is anyhow offered to 4th graders by a group of mothers on the afternoons.

This, among other factors, has made the German School pupils quite modern and open-minded in comparison to the Ecuadorian society and some of its teachers are notable atheist, left or gay intellectuals. The school was one of the first schools in Ecuador that offered sexual education as a part of biology class and as an extra subject.

References

External links

* [http://www.genauonline.blogspot.com/ Genau!]
* [http://www.aleman.k12.ec Official Site]
* [http://www.dasan.de/traitdunion/content/content.cgi?request=2003_3/02/01.con&lang=en&slang=/ Trait d'Union, International Students Multimedia Magazine]
* [http://www.ibo.org/school/001421/ IBO]
* [http://www.bva2.bund.de/aufgaben/auslandsschulwesen/verzeichnis/welt/samerika/ecuador/00121/index.html/ Official Site from the German Government for German Schools abroad]
* [http://www.kmk-pad.org/ Pedagogical Exchange Service (Pädagogischer Austauschdienst)]
* [http://www.bundesjugendspiele.de/ Federal Youth Sport Games]