A company goes to school: Children discover technology during a joint project of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and Südschule St. Ingbert school

Children are fascinated by technical contexts from an early age and want to understand how things work. The joint project of Südschule St. Ingbert and SHS – Stahl- Holding-Saar (SHS) with its subsidiaries Dillinger and Saarstahl is intended to nurture this excitement in the children and foster their thirst for knowledge. The cooperation is taking place as part of the programs of the nationwide “Wissensfabrik – Unternehmen für Deutschland e.V.” (Knowledge Factory) network.

The educational partnership kicked off today with the contract signing. Principal Nadine Klimbingat and her team at the Südschule school welcomed St. Ingbert Lord Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer for the signing ceremony, along with Heike Schmidt-Petersohn from the Saarland Ministry of Education and Culture, and Joerg Disteldorf, Managing Director of SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar and Chief Human Resources Officer of Saarstahl and Dillinger.

The “KiTec” project is being offered by the Südschule school and SHS – Stahl- Holding-Saar as part of the educational cooperation. The project is aimed at children in elementary school and is intended to help foster the young researchers’ thirst for knowledge about the world of technology and to stimulate their creativity through practical tasks. The aim of the educational cooperation is to nurture the enthusiasm of young children as early as possible and to encourage them according to their talents.

“There’s a spark of enthusiasm for technology and science inside every child. The educational partnership between the Südschule school and SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar fosters this enthusiasm and gives children the opportunity to discover their talents in the field of technology at an early age,” Joerg Disteldorf said. “The talented and committed skilled workers of tomorrow are the basis for a successful future for Saarland’s steel industry. They are what will guarantee a successful transformation to carbon-neutral steel production as well as success in the area of digitalization and Industry 4.0.”

“This project provides a great opportunity to get students excited about more than just technology and science. It also trains their creativity and spatial thinking, and promotes practical work, since the children are allowed to grapple with challenges themselves and try things out,” Lord Mayor Dr. Ulli Meyer emphasized. “The educational partnership is therefore not only a cooperation between a school and company, but also involves the children as partners. This makes them feel taken seriously and validated. Many thanks to everyone involved for making this possible for the children of Südschule St. Ingbert school.”

And this is how the educational partnership between schools and companies works: The “Wissensfabrik” (Knowledge Factory) offers didactically prepared educational projects for all ages, which the company and the school implement together. SHS–Stahl-Holding-Saar provides and funds the materials needed for the project and provides support with its expertise. As a result, the young participants receive training and professional support as well as boxes of materials and textbooks.

The first joint educational project of the Südschule school and SHS – Stahl-Holding-Saar is “KiTec – Children discover technology” and starts with kids in elementary school. Using age-appropriate tool and material boxes, the children learn to understand the interrelationships of everyday life while also being allowed plenty of freedom for their own ideas and creativity. Projects in the areas of construction, vehicle and electrical engineering can be implemented in this way. The children create their own structures – thus expanding their knowledge and inventiveness.

As companies with a long history, Dillinger and Saarstahl are firmly rooted in the region and take their social responsibility seriously. The companies of the SHS Group have long supported projects in the region that are targeted at helping children and young people develop. These include, for example, the educational partnership as part of the “Wissensfabrik” (Knowledge Factory) with the Schule am Römerkastell in Dillingen, a project to promote sports, integration and culture in Völklingen, and support for the Saarlouis School Research Center and the MINT-Campus Alte Schmelz.