Day 1
The Grade 11 class went on a two-day field trip, also known as the Exordium. The Exordium is a key feature of the Diploma Programme (DP) Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS) program and falls under the category activity. The Exordium was organized by the school’s CAS Coordinator, Birgit Kress, and Eventure’s leader, Klaus Herrmann. On the first day of the Exordium, we participated in a six-hour-long canoeing trip along the Neckar river from Neckarelz to Zwingenberg. The second day was filled with team building activities, high rope-climbing, and trust jumps.
Meeting at the Hauptbahnhof at 8 am, we soon departed by train to Neckarelz where we met with two members of the Eventure team. In groups of three, we took on the river in our canoes, where we spent the next six hours. It was at times incredibly tiring, but we found fun in our interactions and the beautiful scenery. Shortly before our lunch break, we went through a lock which took us into the portion of the Neckar with a lower elevation. We stopped for lunch at the river bank and enjoyed the beautiful views and afternoon sun while we ate. We were very lucky to have such nice weather. Our trip drew to a close as we arrived at Zwingenberg, where after the strenuous trip we hauled our boats onto the shore and enjoyed ice cream from the truck waiting for us.
This activity was quite tiring and definitely pushed our limits, however, it was still a very progressive team-building venture. With the very small current present in the river, our teams had to work very hard in propelling our groups of three down the river. To be able to do this for such a length of time, it was dire that our groups of three learn how to synchronize our rowing to achieve the fastest and straightest route.
While it did take some time to establish the correct form for each team, we all perfected our “ways of rowing” and focused on keeping a steady rhythm of paddling and conversation with our fellow teammates. Many groups even partnered up and connected with other canoes where one group was responsible for the left-side paddling while the other was responsible for the right. This also brought along many interesting hours as we attempted to perfect our rowing form while also being able to spend time with one another in a very close environment. Furthermore, these situations always present room for reflection. As improvements, many teams could have worked harder at keeping up with the rest of the class, as in many cases, a majority of the teams had to wait for the remainder to catch up from quite a distance. Despite this small hiccup the trip was quite successful and brought forth many laughs, though, many weary arms!
CAROLIN, KALEY, ALENA, LOUIS
Day 2
On Saturday morning at 9am we all met up in the train station and by 9:30 we were on our way. After about a 30 minute train ride we walked around the town Eberbach for a few minutes before getting on the bus to the Eventure house in Mudau. At the Eventure house after rules and instructions were given the whole class and the teachers were all put in harness and helmets that we would later need for the high rope courses. We started the day off by doing some team building where we had to work together to create a plan. The goal of the plan was to find a way from point A to B walking along steel wires that were about half a meter from the ground. The class was split into boys and girls and both groups started from different points but had the same destination. In between these steel wires there would be useful things like ropes tied to trees to help us get across. If anyone fell off the wires into the imaginary swamp everyone had to restart from the beginning so any progress was lost. This activity took us a long time at first but when we found our plan that worked the pace started to speed up.
Once we completed the team building exercise we moved locations to the high rope course where we were given cow tails and instructions on how to properly use them. Then we all picked a partner to go through the course with which made sure each other were always attached to a rope while moving in between different courses. Once we started it was very clear that it appeared much easier than it would be. A few times some of us even got stuck but Mr.Claus came to the rescue.
Once everyone was finished we all met on a tall platform where our classmate Louis helped Mr. Claus while one at a time we descended down bouncing off a wall. The last activity we did required a lot of trust with each other. The task was to climb a ladder until we reached a platform which we would later jump off attempting to hit a ball. The reason this required a lot of trust was because we were hooked to a rope while jumping off but the rate at which we reached the ground was fully in the hands of the students. The rope we were hooked to was held by 10 classmates at the bottom. Not all the students participated in this as it was very scary. All the activities left the whole class very tired but at the end of the day before we left we all got pizza and drinks so we all ate and talked which left the class having an even stronger bond than before. The trip was a lot of fun and it was nice to be able to have this opportunity.
ANSLEY, SARA, NOA, GIULIA
