From 18 to 22 August, children between the ages of 8 and 13 can go on a journey of discovery at Paderborn University: The summer camp of the "Vielfalt st?rken" ("Strengthening Diversity") project offers a colourful programme prepared and run by student teachers. Under the motto "Adventure Campus. Come with us on a journey of discovery!", participants can experience various themed activities and go on exciting excursions in small intercultural groups for five days from 9 am to 4 pm. Breakfast and lunch together as well as snacks and two dedicated buses to transport the children from their homes to the university and back round off the programme. Parents can find more information at go.upb.de/sommercamp2025 and can register their children directly using the registration form.
Years of support and valuable collaboration
The summer camp is organised by the PLAZ – Professional School of Education and the Institute for German Language and Comparative Literature at Paderborn University. "Without the financial support of the Osthushenrich Foundation and the district of Paderborn as well as the cooperation with the alumni association PLAZEF, we would not be able to organise the summer camp every year. We are very grateful for this," emphasises Dr. Maria Mochalova, who runs the summer camp.
"As long-standing sponsors, we are proud to support the dedicated work of the students. They create a lovingly organised camp for the children, who not only experience fun and adventure, but also develop important social and personal skills. This also strengthens our community in the long term," says an enthusiastic Claudia Holle, Managing Director of the Osthushenrich Foundation. "We also greatly appreciate the long-standing collaboration. The students offer the children a unique opportunity to grow in a safe and creative environment. At the same time, they themselves develop important skills for their future work through the practical organisation and supervision – a win-win situation," adds Markus Kotterba from the Paderborn District Education and Integration Centre (BIZ).
In order to give the supporters an insight in advance and to enable the students to network, the participants held a joint meeting to discuss the organisation and preparation. "We looked back on the successful summer camps of previous years, discussed wishes for this year's camp and had a very constructive dialogue with everyone involved. It was particularly enriching to hear the respective motivation of the students. They are highly committed to implementing the exciting programme," says Prof. Dr. Bardo Herzig, Director of the PLAZ.
Ten years of the summer camp
The "Vielfalt st?rken" summer camp is taking place for the tenth time. During the last week of the summer holidays, around 70 pupils from second to seventh grade at all types of schools are supervised by around 15 student teachers every year. Pupils from the city and district of Paderborn with and without a history of immigration, refugee experience, language support and inclusion needs can take part in the summer camp. The initiative also aims to professionalise student teachers in dealing with heterogeneous, multilingual groups of pupils and to develop teamwork and organisational skills by combining theory and practice. "Every year, the summer camp clearly shows that everyone involved can learn from each other and grow together," summarises Mochalova.
This text was translated automatically.
