Selected Events 2008        

Building Bilingual Education For Tomorrow's Skilled Workers 

Sülzetal School director; Langenweddingen Mayor, Erich Wasserthal, Consul General Mark Scheland, State Minister of Education Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, and the District Executive Thomas Webel

May 22, 2008. Consul General Mark Scheland and Consul Edie Backman participated in the cornerstone ceremony for a new secondary school, the Ganztagschule Sülzetal, in Langenweddingen, Saxony-Anhalt, near Magdeburg. The school, which is subject to open for local 5th to 10th graders in fall 2009, is the result of a public-private partnership. The objective is to use English and German in equal measure as languages of instruction in educating non-college-track students before they go on to further preparation for skilled trades or service-industry careers. Saxony-Anhalt's Minister for Regional Development and Transport, Karl-Heinz Daehre (a Langenweddingen native) and Education Minister Prof. Dr. Jan-Hendrik Olbertz, were the most prominent speakers on a progam that included Consul General Mark Scheland, District Executive Thomas Webel and the host, Sülzetal Mayor Erich Wasserthal. In his remarks to the audience, Consul General Scheland emphasized to the local leaders, teachers, students and media representatives, the promise that the school's bilingual approach holds for students' future job competitiveness. In conjunction with the new construction of classroom and technical training space, the municipality will also renovate an old manor house to serve as a center for community gatherings, international engagement and information.