Over 900 participants in 58 online courses registered for the Going Green 2014 school projects. We received many motivating news from different parts of the country – students who organized a flash mob, others who designed a mobile app, individuals and groups who reached out to local businesses, scholars, and policy makers, and an entire course that interviewed NGO representatives on Skype.
The Teach About US team and our partners want to thank everyone who participated and helped make this contest a success. Congratulations to all students and teachers!
Video: Going Green 2014 finale at the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung in Berlin with project participants and U.S. Ambassador John B. Emerson.
These are the winning projects of the Going Green 2014 Awards:
Presentation
First Prize: Plastic and Trash
by the English Course (grade 12) at Goethe-Gymnasium in Schwerin with teacher Susanne Herbrand-Escher.
1st Runner-up: Humboldt Goes Green
by the English Course (grade 11) at Humboldt-Gymnasium in Potsdam with teachers Patrick Emmelmann and Carola Gnadt.
2nd Runner-up: If you save the world, you can save yourself
by the English Course (grade 8a) at Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn with teacher Melanie Shriner.
2nd Runner-up: Get going, go green!
by the English Course (grade 12) at Goethe-Gymnasium in Schwerin with teacher Susanne Herbrand-Escher.
Blog/Website
First Prize: Alsdorf goes Green
by the bilingual project course (grade 12) with American exchange students at Dalton-Gymnasium in Alsdorf, with teacher Anissa Schiffer.
1st Runner-up: Think Globally, Act Locally
by the English Course (grade 11) at Louise-Henriette-Gymnasium in Oranienburg with teacher Jens Rösner.
Video
First Prize: Wake up! Go green!
by the English course (grade 9b) at Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn, with teacher Melanie Shriner.
1st Runner-up: Philantrophs are going green!
by the English Course (grade 12d) at Gymnasium Philanthropinum in Potsdam with teacher Heike Piornak-Sommerweiß.
2nd Runner-up: More culture and nature instead of smartphone failure
by the English Course (grade 8b) at Nicolaus-Cusanus-Gymnasium in Bonn with teacher Melanie Shriner.
Most innovative product
First Prize: Superstainable – The Board Game to go Green
by the bilingual Biology course (grade Q1) at Schuldorf Bergstraße in Seeheim-Jugenheim, with teacher Kerstin Oldenburg.
1st Runner-up: Sustainable Cosmetics
by the English Course (grade 12) at Albert-Einstein Gymnasium in Neubrandenburg with teacher Petra Wittner.
2nd Runner-up: Bag to the roots
by the English course (grade 11) at BIP Kreativitätsgymnasium in Leipzig, with teacher Madlen Naumann.
Most creative contribution
First Prize: Greenate – A blog, campaign, and an app
by the bilingual Biology course (grade 10) at Goethe-Gymnasium in Frankfurt, with teacher Anne Schröter.
1st Runner-up: Regional Food
by the bilingual Biology Course (grade 6a) at Schubert-Gymnasium in Aalen with teacher Bettina Schönherr.
Community Engagement Award
First Prize: Going Green – A Campaign, Workshops, and an Art Festival
by the Key Club at Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut in Nürnberg, with program coordinator Kathleen Röber.
Going Green Action Plan Nuremberg from DAI Nuernberg on Vimeo.
1st Runner-up: Aska Awareness Day
by the English Course (grade 11) at Askanisches Gymnasium in Berlin with teacher Matthias Klaudius.
2nd Runner-up: Food for Thought
by the English course (grade 11) at Strittmatter-Gymnasium in Gransee, with teacher Heike Grützmacher.
Transatlantic Award
Goethe goes green
by the LK English 1st term at Goethe Oberschule in Berlin, with teacher Christina Kurzmann, and the Green Team at Fayetteville High School in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Most Popular Award
Bag to the roots
by the English course (grade 11) at BIP Kreativitätsgymnasium in Leipzig, with teacher Madlen Naumann.
We concluded the Going Green project and student competition with events in Düsseldorf (December 4) and Berlin (December 5). In Düsseldorf, participating courses and teachers were welcomed at the Nordrhein-Westfalen Schulministerium. Our Going Green participants presented their green action plans and discussed their ideas with Prof. David Goldfield from the University North Carolina at Charlotte. Consul General, Steve Hubler, and Staatssekretär Ludwig Hecke congratulated the students on their commitment to German-American cooperation and awarded prizes for some of their outstanding green action plans.
Our friends at the U.S. Consulate General Duesseldorf and Schulministerium NRW hosted a meeting with students from Nicolaus Cusanus Gymnasium Bonn, Gymnasium Alsdorf, and Gymnasium Essen-Werden in Düsseldorf.
In Berlin, U.S. Ambassador John B. Emerson and the Going Green team welcomed students from eight Bundesländer at our national concluding event that was generously hosted by our friends at Friedrich Ebert Stiftung. Prof. Goldfield joined us again for this event and discussed the green action plans with the students. Ambassador Emerson awarded prizes for excellent student contributions and underlined the importance of civic engagement for sustainable development.
Congratulations to all participants and competition winners!
Marilena Peters has been pursuing her B.A. in teaching Social Studies with a geographical focus and English as a Foreign Language at Leuphana University Lüneburg since 2015. After finishing her studies with a Master’s degree, Marilena intends to teach at an elementary school.
'Going Green – Education for Sustainability' is an intercultural blended-learning project that engages students on both sides of the Atlantic in interdisciplinary project work on English as a foreign language, American studies, environmental and political science. The annual project is part of the Teach About US platform developed by the U.S. Embassy in Berlin, Leuphana University Lüneburg, and LIFE e.V. Since the pilot project in 2014, over 2,500 participants in Germany and the U.S. have participated in four project cycles and have produced over 50 green action plans to implement sustainable development in their local communities. Going Green is a proud recipient of the Germany – Land of Ideas Award 2015.