Maturaprojekten

A few weeks ago now, the fifth (last) form students at the HAK presented their Matura projects in the mozArt in Amstetten. The place is normally a dinner theater/cabaret set/concert hall which caters to the Amstettner crowd...and various surrounding small towns, of course. 


The projects were actually divided between two nights, and I came on the second night because two of the girls presenting the second night invited me to their presentation (no one invited me the first night). As part of their graduation requirement, the students of the HAK are expected to develop some sort of business model, website, advertising campaign, fundraising campaign etc., etc. for a local company. They begin in the summer of their junior year and submit the projects after the first semester of their final year. They then present the projects during the second semester. A final written report is due at the end of the year (in German and English - I've been helping some of the students rewrite their English portions). 


Failing an attempt to scan the program onto my computer, I will have to list off the projects with a little description:


1. pauwa KG - three girls put together a website for a local carpenter/interior designer
2. Lebenskunst - two students got together with the Lebenshilfe Amstetten (an assisted living care facility for people with developmental disabilities) to teach the residents art. The art was then sold to make money for the Lebenshilfe. 
3. Schulfilm - two girls made a film about the school, for future students to see, but also as a remembrance of their time at the HAK.
4. Businessplan Zeithofer - three girls put together a fundraising effort for this other guy who wants to start a carpentry/interior design business.
5. Carla Amstetten - two girls put together a website for the second-hand store in Amstetten (Carla - stands for Caritas Laden: charity store).
6. Eine neue Orgel für St. Stephan - three girls put together a fundraising effort to buy St. Stephen's church in Amstetten a new organ (incidentally, where I sing in the choir!).
7. K-BoxS - this was probably the funniest/most random: three girls designed a website for a company which designs observational equipment for horse stalls - to make sure the horses are going poo-poo in the right spots... 
8. Time for Books! - To spike interest in reading in younger people (i.e. HAK students), three boys put together a book sale to fundraise money to get a well-known Viennese author (I forgot which one...I'll get back to you on that) to come to the school to do a reading. He writes fantasy books.
9. "Du bist Schön" - two girls put together a website for a local company that produces organic beauty products.
10. Young meets old - three students put together a survey/service activity to get young people (elementary school age) to get in contact with older people (living in the nursing home near Amstetten).
11. Schülerheim -  three students took a survey of students living in the Landschülerheim (for students who go to the Landschule, or outdoor school).
12. Businessplan SportimOrt - three boys developed a business plan for a sports store that comes to you!
13. Multimedia FF Ardagger - three boys put together a multimedia presentation to promote the Ardagger volunteer fire department (Freiwillige Feuerwehr).


All of the students did a great job presenting. I found it pretty amazing that they had such a varied collection of projects. And, it's good to see yet another difference between the American and Austrian school systems. One interesting aspect of the HAK is that they are the only school type to expect a project like these from graduates. Other schools are pushing to do similar things, but as of this year, the HAK is the only one requiring graduation projects. I can't imagine any American public school making students do projects like these - at least not without a big fat fuss from all sides. 




NB: I spoke too soon in this post when I said there was only one theater in Amstetten. Apologies.