Sustainable Child Health - Lecture at ISR
Sustainable Child Health – Lecture at ISR
Thursday, 28 September 2023
How can families promote the physical and mental health of children? How can parents, as well as school staff, contribute to children’s responsible use of digital media? These and many other intriguing questions were addressed today in a lecture by Fritjof Nelting, CEO of the Gezeiten Haus Clinic Group.
As a coach, speaker, and mentor, Mr. Nelting supports families on the path to sustainable health. On this occasion, interested families from the primary and secondary levels gathered at ISR to attend Mr. Nelting’s keynote speech. Many ISR staff members also took the opportunity to draw inspiration from Mr. Nelting’s presentation. Following the lecture, families came together to discuss the presentation and to enjoy the evening together.
Mr. Nelting’s visit follows his first highly successful lecture in early May 2023, which he delivered to our Chinese community in Mandarin. Due to the positive feedback, we were delighted to offer our primary and secondary school families the opportunity to participate in an expert’s lecture.
We sincerely thank Mr. Nelting for his time and look forward to hopefully welcoming him back to ISR soon.
Visit of Ms. Dagmar Wandt, Head of the Office for Schools and Education in Düsseldorf
Visit of Ms. Dagmar Wandt, Head of the Office for Schools and Education in Düsseldorf
Monday, 11 September 2023
Last Friday, we were honored to welcome Ms. Dagmar Wandt, Head of the Office for Schools and Education in Düsseldorf, to ISR.
Ms. Wandt was warmly welcomed by our kindergarten children, who greeted her with a home-made welcome sign, as well as by our ISR Management Team and Head of ISR Parent Network, Caroline Williams. Following her welcome, she was given a tour of the school by our Head of Marketing, Ms. Poestges.
During the kindergarten and school tour, Ms. Wandt was invited to visit two classes in our ISR Primary and Upper School. Accompanied by representatives of the press and radio, our visitors first went to Dr. Mitchell’s 11th-grade class, where the visitors were given an insight into a chemistry lesson. The main focus was on Dr. Mitchell’s modern teaching methods, including the use of the 3D program “Labster” and various simulations. Rosa and Alessandro warmly welcomed Ms. Wandt to their class and explained to her what the class was working on at the moment.
Afterwards, Ms. Wandt visited a class at our ISR Primary School, where our students were engaged in various group projects. Ms. Wandt had the opportunity to observe how AI and VR goggles are used in the classroom to encourage and enable individual learning experiences. Our students Filippos, Felicia, and Noé were happy to explain to Ms. Wandt and our visitors what digital learning at ISR means to them. She was visibly impressed by the state of digitization at ISR, which she reflected on during the exchange with our Academic Heads afterwards.
In the following discussion with School Director Ms. Lyons, Deputy School Director Mr. Cete, Proprietor Mr. Soliman, Head of Marketing Ms. Poestges, our ISR Parent Network Representative Ms. Williams, and our Academic Heads views were exchanged on trends in education, digitalization in the classroom, and the importance of support programs for the well-being of students.
We sincerely thank Ms. Wandt for the visit, her commitment to education, especially in the implementation of technology in the classroom, and her dedicated efforts to positively influence educational programs in the region. We look forward to further deepening the bond with the city of Düsseldorf.
ISR Students visited QIAGEN
ISR Students visited QIAGEN
Monday, 9 May 2022
End of April, eight Grade 11 biology students visited the QIAGEN laboratories in Düsseldorf. After a guided tour through the campus where they observed the working laboratories, they put on their lab coats and guided by Dr. Norbert Hochstein, Director of Research and Development at Qiagen, the students carried out a DNA extraction experiment. The latest in PCR testing equipment was on display and the students learned about how the process is becoming digitized, allowing for far faster test results.
The visit concluded with an inspiring career talk from a professional scientist, Dr. Julia Täubner, allowing the students an insight into the path taking to work for a leading provider of molecular diagnostic technologies.
We sincerely thank Qiagen for this enriching opportunity for our students!
Another Successful Career Talk at ISR
Another Successful Career Talk at ISR
Monday, 2 May 2022
Last Friday, another successful Career Talk took place at ISR. Two employees of the international auditing company Ernst & Young, which is represented in over 150 countries, visited us. Mr. Stojanovic, former dual student of EY and current assistant, as well as Mr. Brookshaw, Senior Manager, held an exciting lecture in front of our 11th graders, during which our students got an insight into the company and its diverse fields of activity, as well as, into the daily work of an auditor and the application process. The Career Talk was very interactive as our students clearly showed their great interest and asked many varied questions.
Mr. Stojanovic and Mr. Brookshaw talked about their service lines, the difference in auditing small and large companies, and the impact of COVID-19 on EY. Furthermore, they explained the benefits that come with working in an international company, such as valuing cultural diversity. “We love to be as colorful as we could be,” Mr. Brookshaw emphasized. Another important part of EY is the individual development of its “talents”, as well as, the conscious promotion of women in management positions. Special programs are in place to help them develop their own careers. Currently, 44% of EY’s employees are female and as Mr. Brookshaw emphasized at this point “it is extremely important to hire and promote female leaders”. During the Career Talk, it quickly became clear that EY offers every one of its employees the opportunity to pursue a successful career on a level playing field. The Career Talk was a great success and the interest of our students was so great that Mr. Brookshaw and Mr. Stojanovic took the time afterwards to have individual conversations with our students and answer open questions. We are already looking forward to discussing further cooperation opportunities with EY in the future, where our students will have the opportunity to get to know the company better.
We would like to thank Mr. Brookshawn and Mr. Stojanovic for their exciting visit and their time!
A delegation from the offices of U.S. House of Representatives visited ISR
A delegation from the offices of U.S. House of Representatives visited ISR
Thursday, 31 March 2022
Yesterday, we were honored to welcome a delegation of constituency office leaders from the U.S. House of Representatives as part of a week-long “Senior Staff Study Tour” in North Rhine-Westphalia. The visit took place as part of ISR’s partnership with AmerikaHaus NRW e.V. The nine-member delegation consisted of District Directors from both major parties (Democrats and Republicans), who lead the offices of the representatives in their respective home regions. The experts learned about ISR’s educational concept and spoke with students from Grades 9 to 11 about their school careers, academic accomplishments, study aspirations, and also plans for the future. “This was a very educational exchange for all students. Not only for those who are thinking about studying in the U.S.,” emphasized Emil Cete, deputy principal of ISR Neuss: “There is no substitute for such personal meetings. It’s true that we have organized many events digitally in the past two Corona years. But face-to-face exchanges are simply even more enriching and personal. We are all the more pleased that Dr. Becker from AmerikaHaus NRW e.V. has brought this special event to us at ISR.”
Delegates from U.S. constituency offices discussed with the students not only their academic aspirations but also the importance of education and how transparent communication, as well as face-to-face exchanges, are essential to fostering transatlantic relations. “You are the future of your respective home countries, so I encourage you to continue to think globally and also critically,” the U.S. guests concluded in their advice to the high school seniors.
The delegates took a lot of time to answer the young people’s questions and exchanged contact information with them at the end. “We were very pleased that the guests were so open with the students today and even offered to be available for an internship in the US. This underlines the special importance of events of this kind and their added value for both sides,” summed up Peter Soliman, Managing Partner of ISR.
We thank our partner the AmerikaHaus NRW e.V., the US Association of Former Members of Congress, and all participating District Directors for the time and the experience they shared with us.
Visit of Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf
Visit of Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf
Friday, 18 February 2022
We were especially pleased to welcome Mr. Ralf Schlindwein, in his role as Managing Director International Business of the IHK Düsseldorf, to ISR last week.
With the visit of Mr. Schlindwein, we continue our successful series of lectures at ISR this year. He had the opportunity to tour the school campus, led by our grade 10 students Jasmin and Lara.
Afterwards, Mr. Schlindwein held an interesting lecture with the topic “Current Challenges for German Companies in Foreign Business” to our Upper School Students. The talk was followed by a Q & A session, during which the students posed interesting and well-informed questions. Mr. Schlindwein gave generously of his time with his engaging presentation and inspiring responses to our senior students’ questions during and after the lecture. We are grateful to Mr. Schlindwein for his time, and for sharing his experience and knowledge with our students on Friday.
Thank you, Mr. Schlindwein, for your time and the exciting presentation – our school community was very grateful to welcome you to our ISR!
Our Path to a Greener Future: Zero-Emission School Bus Transportation at ISR
Our Path to a Greener Future: Zero-Emission School Bus Transportation at ISR
Friday, 18 February 2022
In cooperation with our partner, the Düsseldorf-based transport company Zweelo, our students will now travel sustainably on three routes to school every morning and in the afternoon. Subsequently, we will cut down on more than 4 tons of CO2 emissions within a year compared to the previous transport!
For us as an educational institution, imparting sustainable environmental awareness is an essential part of our ISR school life, which is why our students also deal with these important and future-oriented topics in the classroom. As a school, it is essential for our students to see our environmental efforts first-hand, which is why we recently expanded our rooftop solar panels to lay emphasis on the use of green power in our day-to-day lives.
In addition, our students have the enriching opportunity to get involved in sustainability at their school through various CAS and SLO® projects. They also have the opportunity to engage in interesting experiments in their biology classes, such as making paper from banana peels.
With Zweelo as a sustainably-oriented cooperation partner, we link together in projects that have already been implemented and have had an impact at ISR in terms of improved environmental awareness.
It is our goal to lead by example with our school community, and therefore we are especially pleased to take another step towards a sustainable future with the launch of emission-free student transportation.
Visit of the U.S. Consul General Pauline Kao at ISR
Visit of the U.S. Consul General Pauline Kao at ISR
Monday, 31 January 2022
We had the honor of welcoming the new U.S. Consul General for NRW in Düsseldorf to ISR last Friday. Ms. Pauline Kao assumed her duty as Consul General in the summer of 2021.
After a warm welcome from our management team, members of the ISR Advisory Board, and some kindergarteners, the Consul General was given an extensive school tour. The tour was led by our two ISR Upper School students Philipp and Marc, who will both be studying in America next year. The tour was also joined by Head of Kindergarten – Ms. Alex Vrem-Ydstie, as well as the Academic Head Gr. 10 & 11 – Ms. Samantha McGee, who are both native US citizens.
The school tour was followed by an interesting keynote speech by the Consul General, in which she shared her personal and professional experiences with the students and invited guests. Besides about 30 students present, some former students joined the lecture via Zoom. In addition, we were pleased that some interested parents also attended the lecture.
During her talk, the U.S. Consul General emphasized that she particularly enjoys working with young people in schools, and so she took a lot of time afterwards to answer various questions from the students. Among the topics addressed were her professional career, climate change, and the protection of democracy.
At the end of the exchange, one student asked her what the profession of a diplomat was all about and what requirements one had to meet in order to be successful in this career field. In her inspiring answer, Consul General Kao highlighted three essential requirements for her: backbone, empathy, and, above all, the ability and willingness to truly listen to one’s counterpart.
Our students as well as staff members and participants of the visit were impressed by her confidence as well as her warm demeanor and her inspiring answers.
We would like to thank Consul General Kao for her visit to ISR and the time she took to share with our students. A motivating and very open lecture, which will remain among the best memories for all participants for a long time.
RTÈ Live Interview with School Director Ms. Lyons
RTÈ Interview with School Director Ms. Lyons
Thursday, 2 December 2021
Last year, ISR School Director Ms. Lyons was interviewed by the Irish RTÉ Radio on the topic of schools being opened during the pandemic. Our school was highly praised for the high safety measures it had put in place to protect the school community.
The radio network asked to interview Ms. Lyons again yesterday, as a way of reflecting on the past year. In the discussion, the radio host interviewed different school directors from schools within Europe, to find out how they are dealing with the current situation in schools and how the students are coping with the mandatory masks rule, tests and the current situation.
Enjoy listening to the interesting interview of our school director!
Minister Prof. Dr. Pinkwart Visits ISR
Minister Prof. Dr. Pinkwart Visits ISR
Wednesday, 1 December 2021
We had the honor of welcoming Minister Prof. Dr. Pinkwart, the NRW Minister for Economy, Innovation, Digitalization and Energy to ISR today.
The Minister was welcomed by our ISR Management Team, members of the ISR Advisory Board, the Head of the ISR Parent Network, parents, alumni as well as our kindergarten children, who made a poster for the Minister for the visit.
We were very pleased to welcome Ms. Troles – MdL, Dr. Geerlings – MdL of the CDU Neuss and Mrs. Caninenberg – Speaker of the ministry, to the meeting as well.
After a warm welcome from Mr. Soliman – ISR School Proprietor, our guests were given an insight into how innovation and digitalization are practiced in our classrooms at ISR.
For some years now, VR glasses have been used at ISR to supplement regular lessons in order to skillfully visualize learning content and thus make it tangible for our students. Mr. Killian O’Brien – Head of the Science Department at ISR, explained the technologies that are used in the classroom and referred to the solar cells which, in addition to generating green energy for ISR, can also be used for teaching purposes and experiments.
Minister Prof. Dr. Pinkwart then took the time to provide a selected groups of our Upper School Students as well as our other guests with exciting insights into the topic of artificial intelligence. In a subsequent round of talks, the participants were allowed to address their questions to the Minister, who gave the students important advice, also with regard to their future career choices. The Minister emphasized that international schools have a special value in the region and also for the economy and encouraged our students to always be curious and to always have the willingness to learn new things throughout their lives.
With this visit, the Minister followed up on a visit a few years ago and we are particularly pleased that he took the time today to engage in an exchange with our guests, students, our team, parents and alumni at ISR.
Furthermore, we wish to thank all of our guests for their time and are happy that we have been able to provide our students with this inspiring lecture by Minister Prof. Dr. Pinkwart.
Newspaper article by the NGZ: 
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