The potatoes come from the school garden run by the Astrid Lindgren School in Schleiden near Kall. They are the most important ingredient for the potato cakes that are baked once a year by parents and staff for the roughly 200 pupils at the traditional potato cake festival. Clubs, institutions and individuals who financially support school life at the facility with their donations are also invited to this festival.
Headmaster Wolfgang Schmitz thanked everyone involved for the support after the flood disaster of July 2021, which severely affected the school: “More than 100,000 euros have already been invested in the redesign of the outdoor area,” said Schmitz. A large, wooden pirate ship, for example, has anchored in the schoolyard and is a popular place for climbing and playing during the breaks, especially for the younger students.
Pedagogical work in Schleiden praised
“This would not have been possible without the donations from the donors – but we would also like to thank the school authorities for their support,” said Schmitz to Mayor Ingo Pfennings.
He enjoyed the potato pancakes, as did his colleague from Hellenthal, Rudolf Westerburg. He praised the pedagogical work of the team and once again emphasized the work in the school garden: “It’s a small but very important project,” says Westerburg, who is also the chairman of the association. In addition to Schleiden and Hellenthal, the municipality of Kall is also involved in this special-purpose association, which maintains the school.
97,000 euros for post-flood reconstruction
However, the focus of the potato cake festival was on the donors, who provided more than 97,000 euros for the reconstruction of the school this year. Hermann-Josef Junker, board member of the North Rhine Chamber of Veterinarians, had a donation check for 47,629 euros for the school with him. There were 38,000 euros from the foundation “Aktion Weltkinderhilfe”, which was presented at the festival by foundation board member Dr. Gudula Meisterjahn-Knebel was represented.
The donations received by headmaster Wolfgang Schmitz (top row, left) at the potato cake festival are intended for the design of the outside area of the Astrid Lindgren School.
Copyright: Thorsten Wirtz
Annual donations of 6,000 to 7,000 euros are almost traditional from the Euskirchen-Nordeifel Lions Club. Among other things, this finances the school band, vocational preparation (in cooperation with the Evangelisches Alten- und Pflegeheim Gemünd Foundation) and the school garden. The Eifel aid group also supports the school with an annual donation of 6,000 euros.
But the students at the Astrid Lindgren School also got involved in a good cause again this year: a charity run raised 1,000 euros, slightly rounded up by the school. Student representative Maurice Gey handed over the donation to Willi Greuel from the Eifel aid group.