One thing, right from the start, made the graduation ceremonies this Friday fundamentally different from those of the two previous years: everyone was there. And everyone was allowed to be there. Maskless, distanceless, full of joy about being together. The celebrations were not in small groups, but in the very large framework of the entire Abitur class and their relatives. Not only the departing pupils, but also the members of the teaching staff will have enjoyed this, as they were spared, as the headmistress of the Kirchseeon Gymnasium Simone Voit put it, not without self-mockery, in her welcome, “you have to hear my speech four or five times “.
You celebrated together just like in the old days, without masks and distance.
So they celebrated just like in the old days in the gym of the Humboldt-Gymnasium in Vaterstetten, the red carpet for the graduates laid out in the middle of the hall between the chairs of the guests. In Kirchseeon, the high school graduates had their grand entrance again when they were allowed to step down the winding staircase into the large auditorium one after the other. A wonderful performance by the Kirchseeon school orchestra with Rossano Galante’s “Nostalgia” conducted by Tanja Back gave the parade its festive conclusion. In Markt Schwaben, at the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium, we also celebrated together again at school or in the gym. Even if there may have been one or the other who mourned the loss of the extraordinary location of previous years, the Abitur certificates were awarded twice in the Aschheim drive-in cinema.
The Markt Schwaben headmaster Peter Popp congratulates Katharin Bauerschmidt.
(Photo: Christian Endt/© Christian Endt)
The 122 high school graduates from the Max-Mannheimer-Gymnasium in Grafing didn’t have it quite as usual this time. The beer tent for the Grandau folk festival, which was set up just these weeks, was just right for the school to accommodate the revelers in a completely informal manner on the benches in the tent. As an anticipation of many an intoxicating evening, which the graduates will certainly have ahead of them in the near future, certainly not the most inappropriate place. In any case, the wafts of chicken smell that rose in the guests’ noses were so beguiling that District Administrator Robert Niedergesäß left the list with the names of the three best of the year on his table. But maybe it was just exhilarating, as he had to attend his high school graduation ceremonies in 36, 37 and 38 that morning, a task that, as he explained, is one of his most beautiful as a local politician. One believes him, since he wrote poetry especially for this occasion and repeated the verses that began with the story of Wilhelm Busch’s teacher Lämpel and ended with real Niedergesäß – later in Kirchseeon and Vaterstetten. Niedergesäß’ deputy Magdalena Föstl drove to Markt Schwaben this time due to time constraints.
The special circumstances caused by the corona pandemic found their way into all speeches that day
The benefits of learning, praise from the students and the special circumstances caused by the corona pandemic, which this year had to go through, which started in the tenth grade, found their way into the rhymes of the district administrator as well as into all the speeches by headmasters, Upper school supervisors, mayors or parents’ councils, which were held on this day – not everywhere as humorously presented as by Niedergesäß, however: “Homeschooling, what a blessing // some people have been in bed.”
A circumstance that the four Grafinger high school graduates Elina Mensch, Peter Schulze, Martin Schemmel and Justus Pehle, who held the graduation speech here, did not want to deny at all. They ironically found the Mebis learning platform, which was used to place work orders in homeschooling, organize teaching conferences and maintain contact with the students, more exciting than any blockbuster at some point. And you have all too often thought about which part of the laptop is broken and could serve as an excuse when the teacher calls you. However, they remarked thoughtfully, “in retrospect, you realized how much you hadn’t learned.”
In Vaterstetten, headmaster Rüdiger Modell also addressed the special circumstances of the pandemic period for the graduates. Up to the tenth grade, the class had a carefree school life, spared from crises. Then the school was closed from one day to the next for a long time, and it took a long time for everything to work properly again with distance and alternating lessons. “You must have imagined your high school years differently. Study trips and parties with friends instead of lockdown, keeping your distance and learning distance.” However, the 164 Vaterstetten high school graduates – as well as everyone else in Bavaria – received preferential treatment for grading and a partial reduction in the examination material. And so in Vaterstetten there was at least six times a 1.0, the best grade, 59 high school graduates at Humboldt-Gymnasium have a one before the decimal point.
If Adrian Jerney, who hosted the event in Vaterstetten, does not yet have a career goal – he could definitely apply to be a moderator.
(Photo: Alexandra Leuthner)
The rector of the Markt Schwabener Gymnasium Peter Popp was able to report something humorous about the changing dangers of the Corona period. There were probably a few students who, impressed by the concentrated reporting in the biology exam, made the coronary vessels out of the coronary arteries in the heart. Nevertheless, seven of the 136 successful high school graduates in Markt Schwaben achieved the dream grade of 1.0, the average grade in Markt Schwaben is 2.10 overall and thus better than the Bavarian average of 2.15 this year.
The fact that the director of the Franz-Marc-Gymnasium, of all people, referred in his speech to the school in Vaterstetten, who gave its name to the great traveler and natural scientist Alexander von Humboldt, was due to the analogy that Popp chose for his outlook on the future of today’s high school graduates: You are now about to travel yourself, and it is inevitable that uncomfortable things will arise, that dangers have to be mastered and challenges have to be mastered – even if one or the other travel only takes them to study in neighboring Munich, and for some the only challenge is to find the right lecture hall.
In the future, they will no longer be taken by the hand, as has usually been done at school in the past. According to Popp, he chose Humboldt in particular because of his insights into a natural scientist and a critical mind with regard to the current situation in Europe and the world – the spread of diseases, war in Ukraine, the recognizable limits to economic growth, the global environmental crisis – are as up-to-date as ever. In view of this, the last challenge to the retiring class was: “Face the challenges. Be touched! Be involved,” explained Popp.
Theresa Mühlfenzl is one of the lucky ones who received her high school diploma in Kirchseeon.
(Photo: Christian Endt)
So while the Markt Schwaben high school head was trying to make the trip for the adventures that awaited the high school graduates, the director of the Grafinger high school, Nicole Storz, painted the picture of a marathon. You have now completed a stage in your life. It was a long run, sometimes with small detours, sometimes with stumbling blocks. But who was also accompanied by “water carriers and lunch breakers” – by which she meant parents and teachers – who would have helped the students on their long journey. With a view to the future, Storz advised the former students to remain flexible and not to be discouraged. “Today, lifelong mobility is more important than ever. The job for which you train once and then practice your whole life in one and the same form no longer exists. Today, lifelong learning is the order of the day.” But more than learning, Storz pointed out, commitment is important, fighting for convictions – something that this generation can do anyway. You have already proven it with your fight for climate and environmental protection. Gender equality, skin color and national equality are also on the agenda and are worth fighting for.
“It can also be a bit of carpe diem,” said the Grafinger headmistress Nicole Storz.
But last but not least, it is important to strike the right balance between determination and enjoyment. “That doesn’t mean that you should be lazy! But it can also be a bit of carpe diem.” And looking at the picture of the marathon, she explained: There are more important things than just getting from A to B.