ERASMUS+ project week at the SBBS "Dr. Eduard Amthor" with guests from Imperia

On Friday, 24 March 2023, students of the State Vocational School for Business and Administration "Dr. Eduard Amthor" enthusiastically reported on their impressions of the "ERASMUS +" exchange programme with Imperia. Six students from Gera and two teachers got to know the city on the Ligurian coast in Italy from 20 February to 3 March. Last week (20 to 25 March), four teachers from the "Istituto Istruzione Superiore G. Ruffini" were guests in Gera.
In addition to getting to know the schools and the school systems, the main focus was on personal encounters and exchanges on questions of European development, said Heiko Nindelt, deputy headmaster of the SBBS "Dr. Eduard Amthor". Despite the great challenges and burdens caused by the current situation at the schools, the SBBS continues to focus on projects such as "ERASMUS +", added headmaster Joachim Block. For example, an exchange programme with partners in Jihlava (Czech Republic) will take place from 20 to 31 March. Six students and two teachers will be at the Czech partner school during this period, and the return visit to Gera will take place from 2 to 17 May 2023.

Traditionally, the Czech championships of budding photographers have been held in Jihlava at the end of November/beginning of December for many years. Under the name CESOFOTO, students from all photography schools in the Czech Republic compete in different categories. Besides the Czech pupils, we from Gera are also a regular participant. This year, participants from 9 schools were at the start.

In addition, there is a so-called "lightning competition" where each school can delegate one participant. In this spontaneous competition, the participants only find out very shortly beforehand which topic they have to work on. Here is the short report of our participant Jonathan: "In Jihlava, Czech Republic, I was allowed to participate in the lightning competition. This has little to do with lightning, but is rather over in a flash. After a short ride in a minibus, we went to the photo school in Jihlava. I didn't know that at the time, but luckily the German teacher (Mrs Kotlikova) was there and could translate the assignment for me.
The topic was autumn minimalism, and the photos were to be taken in the park near the school. After 20 minutes of taking photos, I had to select and edit the pictures.
However, I did not win at the award ceremony later.
Nevertheless, it was a great experience and I am grateful to have taken part.
Later, I noticed that the other participants were a bit surprised about me. I must have photographed a lot lying on the ground, and that in November!
I'll be prepared for next time."

In addition to the award ceremony, the championship of all fashion design schools and hairdressing schools in the Czech Republic took place in the cultural hall of Jihlava.

These competitions naturally offered ideal motifs for reportage photography and also for portraits.

To sum up, here is a short description that Tina wrote on behalf of the group: "Despite the short stay, it was a very instructive trip for us. We were able to expand our horizons completely freely in terms of reportage photography. For example, what it's like to be in a place where you're not the only photographer and not all the people are following you as usual.
It was also exciting to see what the lessons are like with our exchange students and, for example, what technology, programmes and approaches our Czech partners work with."

5 exchange students from our partner school in Jihlava finish their internship at our school. They took part in lessons and explored the city of Gera and of course the surrounding area. Visits to Leipzig and Erfurt were also part of the programme. With many impressions and new experiences, they are now continuing their education at home. We wish them all the best and look forward to seeing them again in Jihlava in November.

Together with the students of class Fg 20, the two budding photographers from Jihlava spent the lessons and were able to take away many new impressions.

19 students from the SBBS Wirtschaft/Verwaltung Dr. Eduard Amthor Gera took part in a 12-day visit to the Czech partner school VOSZ in Jihlava as part of the school's Erasmus Plus programme. In a parents' evening, they presented their group work and reported on the structure of the Czech school system, teaching experiences, joint sporting events, the stay in Prague and the visit to Charles University there. At the end of the presentations, the pupils received their European passports, which confirm their special commitment to the European idea.
All participants agreed that such a way of learning is an enrichment for one's own life experience and should definitely be integrated into everyday school life.

In April 2022, we held the accreditation certificate for the funding period 2021 to 2027 in our hands. This means that the successful work within the ERASMUS+ project can continue. We are looking forward to further successful cooperation with our Czech partner school in Jihlava and will win further partners in Europe for cooperation.