Today, we joined our host students and teachers for their first school day after the spring holidays. After a brief introduction from the school's headmaster, our students split into small groups to visit different classes. These subjects included fine arts, music, Physics, and Chemistry. In addition, Melanie Scherrer (the Swiss students' English teacher) hosted a "Crash Course" in Swiss German for our students.
Our students had a healthy hot lunch in the school cafeteria (slightly different from our own in Reading, complete with a cappuccino/latte machine!). After our students finished lunch and the Swiss students finished their classes, everyone walked over from the school to the statehouse, located in Marktplatz. The statehouse is known as the Rathaus (red house) and it is a beautiful building that dates back 500 years. We were very fortunate to have a personal tour for our group, led by Herr Osi Inglin, the "grandfather" of the Boston-Basel School Exchange program.
Students had the chance to sit in the seats that Parliament members sit in while the Parliament is in session and they learned about the similarities and differences between our two forms of government. Our visits to the Basel state house are a very important part of maintaining the connection between the two sister states, Basel and Massachusetts.
It is a wonderful connection and we are happy that we could renew the connection once again after the difficult years of lockdown and the pandemic.
Link to a video of Dr. Inglin speaking to the students in the Statehouse Parliament room.
Hi Ms Cory, the YouTube of the lecture in the statehouse is listed as a “private video” and I am not able to view. Not sure if that’s an issue for others.
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