Image: win
A cheerful camel, the Three Kings painted on a disc, a colorful star made of ice cream sticks, a small nativity scene made of corks or a glittering cactus made of cardboard – these are not everyday things that decorate the Christmas tree in the auditorium of the Punzerstrasse elementary school in the Münichholz district decorate. All of these unusual pieces of jewelry have one thing in common: they come from children’s hands and were crafted with a lot of dedication. However, it is no ordinary tree: it is part of the “European Christmas Tree” project, in which the students took part with enthusiasm.
24 pieces of jewelry from Europe
“We were immediately enthusiastic about this idea, in which more than 250 schools across Europe and, for the first time, ten from Upper Austria can take part,” says director Eva Anselgruber, “gradually we received 24 packages from many parts of Europe, with which we have now decorated our tree.” This campaign also promotes creativity, knowledge and cohesion among the students.
What is this project actually about?
The elementary school students make Christmas tree decorations in class, exchange them with partner schools and in this way learn a lot about Europe and the different Christmas customs in other countries. “Since we are an elementary school with a focus on English and a school from England is also one of our partners, we hope to have a pen pal relationship with them in the future,” says Anselgruber. Here in Münichholz, the first graders already only speak English in one subject, and another subject is added for each school level.
But back to the “European Christmas tree”: Project leader Lisa Lageder made the decorations with the students from 2A and 2B, which were sent on a journey across Europe from Münichholz. “The students got to know the Steyr Christkindl at our Christmas market last year,” says Lageder, “and they quickly came up with the idea of making the Christkindl as a typical Steyr Christmas tree decoration.”
Ambassador of the city of Steyr
The lovingly designed Christkindl figures with the blonde curls and the green dress were carefully packaged and sent to the 24 partner schools with an accompanying letter written in English and provided with a QR code as ambassadors of the city.
Lageder: “The QR code leads to a presentation of the city of Steyr and our school, as well as a description of how we celebrate Christmas, what is typical for us and how the Christkindl was made.” But the elementary school students from Steyr now also learn a lot about the customs in the countries of the partner schools, such as France, Portugal, Greece, Lithuania, Croatia or Spain.
The elementary school was supported in this project by “Europe Direct Upper Austria”, with a Christmas tree donated by the Doppelbauer family, the parents’ association and the state of Upper Austria, which helped with craft materials and postage.
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Source: Nachrichten
