"Who is visiting us today and why do they have a big package with them?" asked the first graders at the St. Nikolaus primary school in Konz. The 72 Abc shooters each received a packet of exercise books from Westenergie at the start of school. Guido Wacht, the first full-time deputy of the Konz association of municipalities, and the head of the Trier region at Westenergie Michael Arens were visiting. Together with headmaster Alexander Kalmar, they had a pack of exercise books in their luggage for each child. Of course, everyone involved complied with the current distance and hygiene rules.
"We hope her first few weeks of school will be as normal as possible. A surprise is good for them, especially during the pandemic, which is particularly difficult for schoolchildren,” said Guido Wacht at the handover. "It's nice to see that we can make a contribution to giving the children a good start in their new phase of life," explained Michael Arens from Westenergie.
The exercise book package with "Brunnen" writing exercise books from Westenergie comes in DIN A4 format. The notebooks have a size of 16 sheets. The lines with the gray middle band support the easier learning of the basic script particularly well. The jumbo learner's pencil known from the breakfast boxes is also produced sustainably and is included in the package without being sharpened. The campaign for first-graders has now become a tradition for Westenergie: since 2006, girls and boys have already received 869,200 presents.
This year, Westenergie is introducing something new: instead of breakfast boxes and exercise packages, schools could choose between drinking bottles or exercise book packages. This year, the energy company is distributing around 14,200 packs of exercise books and over 13,200 drinking bottles to children in Rhineland-Palatinate, North Rhine-Westphalia, Lower Saxony and Schleswig-Holstein.
Background: In addition to energy supply, Westenergie is traditionally involved in the areas of sports, culture, social affairs, climate protection and education in its partner municipalities. Through sponsorships and partnerships, the company supports both small initiatives and large clubs in order to shape the future together with local people, also on a social level. The first-grader campaign is part of the 3malE educational initiative.