At the end of last year, the school community at Rohrbach Community School took advantage of a visit from District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo as part of "Landrat macht Schule" to present their new calisthenics facility to him.
Following the demolition of the former sports hall, the range of sports and exercise programmes in the afternoon was and is severely limited. What's more, the school playground can only be used to a limited extent due to the construction work. The property management department of the Saarpfalz district, the school management and the sports faculty then jointly considered how this could be compensated for. The choice fell on a calisthenics facility, an outdoor fitness system on which you can train using your own body weight.
During a demonstrative course run under the watchful eyes of sports teacher Simon Schindler and sports coordinator Christoph Groß, sports enthusiasts put their fitness to the test and District Administrator Dr Theophil Gallo was visibly impressed. The use of the calisthenics facility in PE lessons, during afternoon supervision and in the breaks can certainly be seen as part of the overall expansion of the school into a tied all-day school. The area around the facility was covered with multifunctional flooring. On the one hand, this acts as fall protection, which is required for the calisthenics facility, and on the other hand, the area can also be used for floor sports (warm-up exercises, gymnastics, yoga, etc.). The facility was installed from April to the end of June 2024. The costs, which were shared by the Saarpfalz district and the Ministry of Education, totalled 100,886.81 euros.
After some time in the fresh air, classes 10a and b came together in the classroom to talk to District Administrator Dr Gallo. Also present were headmistress Susanne Fritz and the two class teachers Hanna Dahmer and Sabine Rother. The informative image film of the Saarpfalz district, which most of the group had not yet seen, provided a successful start to the discussion. The young people also contributed their interests and in-depth questions, which touched on topics such as violence and bullying at schools, the voting age, the work of the student parliament and the deployment of school paramedics.
"The school is a protected space in which you can develop and learn for life within the framework of absolutely necessary rules. Make the most of this opportunity, work together and respect each other. Your all-day school offers you great opportunities to contribute your individual interests to the school community, which will certainly also benefit your fellow students. If anything stands in the way of this, you can talk about it openly with your teachers," said District Administrator Dr Gallo at the end.