Jakob metzger still has to perform in front of an audience and a jury. "I am excited", he confesses shortly before. Jakob attends the ninth grade of the montessori school in forchheim and graduates this year. Learning under pressure does not really exist in montessori pedagogy. Nevertheless, the tension on this special day can be felt among the youths. "That’s normal, too", jakob appeases.
He belongs to those 19 students, the graduating class, who now have their "rough work" – this is the name of the final exam – presented to the public in the auditorium of the herder high school. The schoolchildren had three quarters of a year to complete their projects. The respective topic could be chosen freely by the participants. Jakob weib pretty much everything there is to know about skateboards. So it was almost obvious that the schoolboy made a so-called longboard. "This is the original shape of the skateboard", jakob explains.
Gluing and pressing the board was a real challenge. "It took me three tries before it worked out.", he reports. That was really frustrating at times. But now he is visibly proud of his work, which has cost him so much effort. But is the result stable and can you drive with it?? "Clear", says jakob and immediately demonstrates this with a few rapid laps through the school hallway.
A few tips from his father
the "rough work is the montessori final of the secondary school and obligatory for all ninth graders. It is an additional test, which does not exist at regular schools. It consists of a theoretical part (written work) and a practical part (workpiece). In cooperation with the ritter-von-traitteur school, the students also take their qualifying secondary school exams. Young people are specifically prepared for this in their lessons. In addition to the theoretical and practical parts, the students also have to prepare a presentation table where they explain their work to interested visitors.
Oliver racky is there in his element. The schoolboy has designed a small model railroad car, for whose kit there are already interested collectors. Unlike several of his classmates who finished at the last minute, he was not pressed for time. "I already started with the drawings in 2011", he says.
His father, who shares the model railroad hobby, gave oliver a few tips. But the montessori schoolchildren are not alone in their work anyway. In addition to their classroom teachers and parents, they have a mentor who is knowledgeable in their chosen field.
The schoolmasters and their work
josef eibert ("rough play with a small ball – table tennis");
eltje blomer ("building a mary monument");
moritz mayer ("pralines");
pia-selina burwitz ("the history of radio");
philip ackermann ("building an insulated dog kennel");
michelle monius ("the rocking chair");
oliver racky ("design, construction and marketing of a model railway car");
moritz kaufer ("the history of brose baskets bamberg");
linus jannopulos ("the film camera/my first own film");
moritz kilgenstein ("farmer’s garden – history and planning");
lukas heppner ("fernweh – a monti on the road in new york");
raphael arneth ("my beam bed");
jakob metzger ("the longboard");
felix neubauer ( electric guitar);
hannah hilgart ("kleider nahen");
johanna kunzel ("fashion photography");
nadja schaftlein ("matters of the heart");
alisia romanowski ("from the free wolf to the faithful journey")
and pascal goppner ("chopper bike")