As part of the celebrations for Europe Day, pupils at ISK Tirol had the opportunity on 8 May to take part in an engaging online event with our Austrian MEP, Lena Schilling.
After a brief introduction, she answered our questions about her personal background and her day-to-day work as a Member of the European Parliament, the key highlights of her negotiations to date, current issues such as climate change, and her views on young people’s political engagement.
We were also delighted to welcome pupils from HLW Kufstein as guests and to collaborate with them across schools.
We would like to thank MEP Lena Schilling for the interesting insights and for ensuring that the voices of our young people are heard.
Once again, this year, ISK Tirol brought forward the main EU Day activities to the somewhat quieter period in February.
In the week leading up to the half-term holidays, we made the most of the time after marks had been finalised and celebrated EU Day in the upper school classes. Back in the autumn, we had already been fine-tuning ideas for the EU Day in February, as well as planning and preparing games and activities. Our classrooms and corridors were decorated with EU flags and EU balloons, and our EU Juniors were clearly visible in their EU T-shirts and EU socks(!). They led the morning’s activities, which included a wide variety of analogue and digital games on the theme of the European Union. Great giveaways, provided by our Europe Direct office in Innsbruck, awaited the winners.
Before we enjoyed a delicious buffet of savoury and sweet dishes from various EU countries, we welcomed our keynote speaker Victoria Pirker in collaboration with Europe Direct. She worked at the European Parliament in Brussels for several years and gave us valuable insights into her career, how she reached her position, and what everyday life in the Parliament is like. Her personal stories and experiences gave the students a unique look behind behind the scenes of working in the EU.
Text: Johanna Rauch