By Sara Orlos Fernandes
27 students from the Zehlendorf Emil Molt School want to sail to the Canary Islands. They are collecting donations for the two-month trip and want to set sail this fall.
The adventure is intended to give young people between the ages of 14 and 15 back the time they lost during the corona lockdown. Her age group has been isolated in homeschooling the longest. The 5,000-kilometer sailing route is intended to give them back a piece of freedom.
From Eckernförde (Schleswig-Holstein) they want to go through the Kiel Canal and the English Channel via Spain and Portugal to the Canary Islands. However, the sailing adventure should not be a simple class trip.
The students of the Emil Molt School were able to get to know the sailing ship “Roald Amundsen” on their last school trip Photo: Roald Amundsen
Planned stops along the way include London, Lisbon and Madeira. There the students can make contact with local young people and be strengthened in the subjects of language, geography, history, ecology and economics.
“It’s an attempt to detach school from the location of the classroom and integrate everyday school life somewhere else,” says Mathias Klinger, managing director of the school. Therefore, the MSA preparations are to be moved from the classroom to the ship. Two teachers accompany the pilot project.
This ship is supposed to go towards the Canary Islands. The two-masted brig “Roald Amundsen” was in the service of the GDR Navy in the first ship life Photo: Brig Roald Amundsen
For co-initiator and school board member Dido-Marie Laux, sailing is one of the projects close to her heart: “Extracurricular places of learning are becoming more and more important. It is becoming more and more difficult to create an attractive environment for the students.” The classroom on the water is a tangible project where responsibility, commitment and team spirit can be learned.
For food, the ship, the crew, insurance and port fees, there are regular costs of 6000 euros per person. 70 percent have already been secured through donations. The students organized flea markets and distributed flyers in the neighborhood. “Whether it’s a craft business around the corner, a paint shop or a master baker – they’ve asked for support everywhere and really want it,” says Klinger.
Who still wants to support:
Donate to:
Donation account of the Emil Molt School
“Sailing 10th class”
IBAN: DE58 3702 0500 0003 1058 04