The Wipperfürth youth art school, “Kunstbahnhof”, run by the community foundation “Wir Wipperfürther” moved to new premises at Lüdenscheider Straße 21 in autumn 2021. The Hans Hermann Voss Foundation provided funding for the new equipment for the Kunstbahnhof. The premises and equipment were redesigned to be as accessible as possible for everbody. To expand the services available, in addition to the studio, dance and theater rooms, a workshop area was set up where students can also work with wood or metal, for example.

The aim is to sensitize pupils to the social media. The focus is on education about opportunities and dangers (data misuse or cyber mobbing) as well as on prevention and support measures. The approach is to train youngsters in classes 7-9 to become media assistants, while at the same time providing a training program for teachers. Under the leadership of the Education Agency of the district Oberberg, together with the Gummersbach County Police Department and the district Youth Welfare Office as well as other organizations as co-operation partners, a structured, district-wide training offer was created, particularly focusing on the rural structures of the region. The organization is to secure the project by setting up a network and long-term collaboration with cooperation partners so that students are not only media assistants at their own school, but also act as multipliers for primary schools and trained media assistants.

The goal of the project “Climb aboard – and advance!” is to help young students with school-related and social problems to finish school and find an apprenticeship position. The project of the “Kölner Gymnasial- und Stiftungsfonds” (Cologne high school and endowment fund) has already been offered at various schools in Cologne since 2007 and thanks to funding by the Hans Hermann Voss Foundation, there has been a branch of the project in Wipperfürth since 2014.

Up to 30 students in the 7th grade and up can participate in the project. A social worker supports the youth and offers them a secure place to go for problems in school, at home, and in the social sphere. This counseling and support are still available to the students up to a year after they graduate.

The project “TuWaS! Technik und Naturwissenschaft an Schulen” (Do something! Technology and natural science in schools) in rhineland is offered by the chambers of industry and commerce (IHK) Cologne, Bonn/Rhine-Sieg and Middle Lower Rhine. The Hans Hermann Voss Foundation allows elementary schools in the Oberbergischer Kreis district free participation in this offer.

The aim is to introduce children to questions of natural science and technology as early as possible and in a fun way. Lessons are offered on the topics of weather, solids and liquids, the life cycle of a butterfly, electrical circuits, chemical tests, motion, and structure. Tried and tested material for 16 progressive lectures will be provided to the schools. In addition, day-long training sessions for teachers are offered that will give teachers a theoretical and didactic foundation.

The experiment units are designed according to the curriculum for regular lessons. They include handbooks and materials with which the children can conduct experiments in groups of two or three over a time period of four to eight weeks. Delivery, pick-up, and maintenance of the experiment units are included in the concept. The day-long training sessions on guided research-based learning are offered biannually on every experiment unit for elementary school teachers.

As part of the nationwide STEM education initiative “Stiftung Kinder forschen” (Little Scientists Foundation), educators in daycare centers and elementary school are trained at :metabolon to help children discover, research and learn in a targeted manner. In Oberberg, a regional network has been created in close cooperation between the Oberberg district and the Bergischer Abfallwirtschaftsverband, which offers all daycare centers throughout the district the opportunity to be certified as a Little Scientists’ House.

More information about Little Scientist’s House

START is a project under sponsorship of the Ökumenische Initiative Wipperfürth (Wipperfürth civic trust). With the project young people who dropped out of high school are given the opportunity to re-structure their lives, go back to graduate from school, and if possible, find a training position. Young single parents face an especially great number of challenges to find an apprenticeship without having finished school, and to do so with a child. It is precisely this target group that is to receive special support. Young families and single parents are offered the building blocks to achieve family skills and educational opportunities. The goal is to increase the level of education of young mothers and fathers and therewith also the educational opportunities of the children. A missing secondary school leaving certificate can be made up for and a career start can be found through an apprenticeship.

The scholarship program of the START-Foundation is aimed at pupils with the following background: They want to actively participate in shaping our society and strengthening our democracy, they have immigrated to Germany themselves or their father or mother has immigrated to Germany, they are attending at least grade nine in the current school year, they are at least 14 years old, they have a command of German at least at the level of GER-B1 and they are still attending a general or vocational school in a German federal state for at least three years. The Hans Hermann Voss Foundation sponsors five START scholarships for students in the region Bergisches Land.

The scholarship supports the capability and the commitment of young people with a migration history and attends their education. In addition to providing material support, the grant includes a comprehensive range of educational opportunities and personal pedagogical supervision.

More information about the scholarship program and application