German Marist coordinators gather for the first time

Marist coordinators of four German schools in Cham, Furth, Recklinghausen and Mindelheim met for the first time in Glasgow, Scotland, from Oct. 28 – 30 to discuss their roles and plan next year’s tasks and goals.

The five coordinators looked at their work in their schools  –  Maristenkolleg Mindelheim, Maristen Gymnasium Furth, Maristen Realschule Cham and Maristen Realschule Recklinghausen – for the coming year, ways of connecting with the schools’ communities, types of Marist activities, and ways for the coordinators to stay connected.

In recent years, the ownership of the four Marist schools in Germany went from the Brothers to the diocese, which agreed to keep the Marist charism. The school principals attend the province’s conferences and teachers take part in the province’s annual pilgrimage to L’Hermitage, France. The schools have also kept Marist activities running throughout the year, such as the “Marist Student Leadership programme” and the “Marist Curriculum,” which each school follows in its religion classes.

 The coordinators, some of which are new, include Hans Staudner (Cham), Eva Alfranseder (Furth), Ulrike Weber (Recklinghausen), as well as Wolfgang Hacker and Christian Diepold (Mindelheim).

Each coordinator presented an already existing project from their school to the other coordinators of other schools for possible inspiration.

Participants also better understood their role as coordinators and the role of supporting Marist teams currently present in each school.

 They agreed on a large meeting of the four schools around Pentecost, regular gatherings of the coordinators within Germany and better communication.

After the three-day meeting, they paid a short visit to the centre of Glasgow and its necropolis, as well as to Edinburgh.

 The next meeting of the coordinators is scheduled to take place in November.