Penne, pesto and puff pastry

Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig
Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig

True to the motto “healthy eating”, the FtK kids from Anne Frank Comprehensive School in Dortmund experienced a fun and inspiring cooking workshop – and learned how to make a good pesto themselves, among other things.

On January 24, 2023, the Dortmund project group from Anne Frank Comprehensive School welcomed Monika van Leyen from kids Kochstudio. Our 24-strong group stormed into the kitchen with a lot of fun, joy and personal responsibility.

After putting on their chef’s hats and tying their aprons, the pupils were divided into two groups. One group was responsible for the main course, the other for the dessert, with Ms. van der Leyen explaining the procedure in an age-appropriate way. They cooked, baked, set tables, ate and, of course, tidied up together. It was a successful afternoon with penne and homemade green pesto, cucumber salad and puff pastry rolls with vanilla ice cream.

Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig
Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig
Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig
Penne, Pesto und Blätterteig

Cooking studio Monika van Leyen

All in all, the children really enjoyed the cooking course. For many of them, it was the first time they had cooked completely independently in the kitchen. Even if an intermediate step was forgotten, the group was caught in time and worked as a team to find solutions. This noticeably strengthened the group dynamics and sense of community. In addition, the students took on responsibility and mostly mastered their tasks independently. The students’ willingness to help each other was particularly noticeable. At the end of the day, the students thanked Ms. van Leyen and went home feeling very satisfied and inspired.

New Year’s reception 2023

On January 26, 2023, we welcomed sponsors and cooperation partners to the Haus des Buches for our fourth New Year’s reception.

Oliver Schlimm, Head of Human Resources at the Börsenverein Group, hosted the evening in his traditional entertaining manner.
LitCam Director Karin Plötz gave an exciting review of the past year 2022, which had a lot to offer, from our major project “Löwenstark – Fußball trifft Kultur” to the Kulturstadion at the Frankfurt Book Fair and the fifth edition of Lese-Kicker.
A special reason to celebrate was the 15th anniversary of our nationwide educational program “Fußball trifft Kultur”, for which we hosted an illustrious panel discussion.

This consisted of personalities who have shaped FtK and who all represent an important part of our program in different ways: Nia Künzer (former soccer world champion, head of the department for integration, social support and volunteering), Anton Schumacher (pedagogical director of the youth training center at Eintracht Frankfurt) and Jonas Schuster (pedagogical director of the youth training center at 1. FSV Mainz 05).
All three talked about their very own and at the same time unifying experiences from the program – with one or two anecdotes and a little reminiscing about the past.
In addition, a variety of impressions from the youth performance centers were described and Nia Künzer gave exciting insights into her day-to-day work as head of the department responsible for integration.

Following the impressive round of talks, the buffet was opened – special thanks go to Ms. Durgun and her team from Elzem-Cateringservice for the freshly prepared and particularly tasty Anatolian-Oriental dishes.
We would also like to thank Weinhaus Grüneburgweg for providing the drinks that harmoniously accompanied the evening’s finale.

We would like to thank all our guests for the very pleasant exchange and the support they gave us and look forward to seeing you again soon at different locations.

Experience climate change up close

Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben
Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben

Incredible natural phenomena, the tropical rainforest and unthinkable environmental disasters – the exhibition “The Fragile Paradise” gave our FtK kids from Duisburg impressive impressions of climate change and its consequences for the environment.

In November 2022, the Duisburg “Fußball trifft Kultur” group made its way to Oberhausen: a visit to the Gasometer was on the agenda. The “Fragile Paradise” exhibition particularly piqued the children’s interest. During the tour, they embarked on a journey through the eventful climate history of our planet. They learned about the animal and plant world through photographs and videos.

The children marveled at the variety of creatures, the natural phenomena and the size of the exhibition. On the other hand, the children saw images that shocked them and made them think. Among other things, the children looked into the nature scenario with VR glasses, experienced the largest rainforest reserve in the world, the Tumucumaque National Park and many animal species in their new habitats.

Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben
Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben
Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben
Den Klimawandel hautnah erleben

© LitCam

This made the children aware of the effects of natural phenomena on the climate history of our planet. In addition to raising awareness of the consequences of human intervention in the ecosystem and the severity of climate change, there was also the opportunity to learn about climate protection projects.

All in all, it was an inspiring and successful excursion for the children. Many were pleasantly surprised at how much the gasometer sparked their interest in climate change.

The Wild Bunch as guests in Düsseldorf

Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf
Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf

A very special highlight awaited the Düsseldorf FtK group this winter – “Die Wilden Kerle” cult author Joachim Masannek paid the children a visit at the Merkur-Spiel-Arena.

After a successful tour of the arena in midsummer of the 2021/22 school year – with a look behind the sacred halls of the players and officials, dressing rooms, press box, training pitches, but also first steps on the Fortuna Düsseldorf pitch and other non-public spaces – there was a reading in the winter of this school year as part of Lese-Kicker 2022 in honour of the young heroes of the Flurstraße community elementary school in Düsseldorf. The meeting point for all “Fußball trifft Kultur” participants was the Bundesliga club’s home ground – the Merkur-Spiel-Arena.

In a good mood and kissed by the midday sun, everyone made their way through the already familiar arena towards the grandstand seats. To be precise, to the VIP seats, what a great atmosphere! Before the official reading began, the audience was treated to an entertaining anecdote about the beginnings of the Wild Bunch, the “real” Wild Bunch. After all, Joachim Masannek is not only the director, screenwriter and children’s book author of the Wild Bunch, but also their coach and father! An internationally renowned story of the young footballers that is actually based on true events.

Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf
Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf
Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf
Die Wilden Kerle zu Gast in Düsseldorf

After the reading, the children were of course allowed to get autographs from the cult author. In summary, it can be said that the children were very enthusiastic about Mr. Masannek’s reading, as he was very entertaining and skillfully involved his audience. The children were able to participate interactively in the story and “help tell” it. In addition to the reading, the children also really enjoyed the book “Die Wilden Kerle – Juli und der geheime Joker”.