Leibniz-Gymnasium Essen

See you later Mel!

Nach einem zweijährigen Aufenthalt am Leibniz-Gymnasium beendet unsere Fremdspachenassistentin, Melanie Gray, ihre Tätigkeit an unserer Schule. Bei Keks und Kaffee fand auch Herr Tenhaven einige ermunternde Worte, um Mel etwas Freude auf die Zeit nach Leibniz zu machen, denn tatsächlich verlässt sie nur schweren Herzens unsere Schule. Ihre Begeisterung an der Arbeit mit den Schülerinnen und Schülern des Leibniz-Gymnasiums zeigte sich tagtäglich in ihrem großartigen Einsatz und Engagement. Mit viel Leichtigkeit, Witz und Humor konnte sie fast immer sogar den letzten 'Angsthasen' für die Englische Sprache begeistern, indem sie die Hemmungen dieser Schülerinnen und Schüler stets abbauen konnte. Nicht nur in die Herzen der Schülerinnen und Schüler – wie man unschwer an den selbst geschriebenen Zeitungsartikeln von Eva Frydlewicz und Pia Sophie Jennert (EF Kurs, Frau Luft) lesen kann – konnte sie einen Platz finden, denn auch das Kollegium hat Mels Arbeit sehr geschätzt und wird sie in Zukunft vermissen. Man will es kaum glauben, aber nach bereits kurzer Zeit ist sie ein fester Bestandteil der Englischfachschaft geworden und es wird nur schwer sein, diese Lücke zu füllen. Im englischsprachigen Raum ist es sehr geläufig „See you later!“ (dt. „Bis später!“) zum Abschied zu sagen – eine Wendung, die sehr viel positiver klingt, als ein finales „Goodbye“. In diesem Sinne sagen die Fachschaft Englisch und die Schülerinnen und Schüler „See you later!“ zu dir Mel und wünschen dir alles Gute für die Zukunft. Dank WhatsApp, Facebook und E-mail hören wir sicherlich schon bald etwas von dir.

"We all will miss her badly": Language assistant Mel goes back to England

The 22-year-old Language Assistant Melanie Gray from Hastings (Southern England) spent two years in Germany, living in NRW. She has visited Leibniz-Grammar School in Essen since September 2012, working with students and teaching them British English. Now she’s going back to Egham, a little town near London. The Sun had the chance to interview Mel before her return to England. We asked her, what she liked most during her time in Germany. “What I liked most about the school? Gosh… I liked the pupils, especially Miss Luft’s EF group, really. But I also liked my colleagues. They were wonderful. And what did I like about Germany, in general? Um… I loved the shops opening until 8 pm. In England they close at 6 pm. But there was another thing… Oh, ‘Milchschnitte’! I love ‘Milchschnitten’! They are so tasty. We haven’t got them in England.” Many pupils in Miss Luft’s EF group will miss Mel badly. “I really like it when she talks German. It sounds so funny. Mel always helped us, when we had questions or didn’t know an English word. She is friendly and talked to us a lot”, says Annika Großkreuz, a 16-year-old student. “Oh, and she liked my drawings.” “I like her speaking English. Her pronunciation is so cool”, a male pupil declares. “And she has a nice
character, I like her whole manner.” “Mel is friendly and relaxed and I like her teaching lessons. She has never become annoyed because
of us. She is really patient”, another one adds. “I have never seen her annoyed. She was always smiling and laughing. I think her lessons were really cool, for example the discussions when we spoke about ‘The Giver’. It was always interesting”, Isabell Ressel comments. “I like her open manner. She has a great charisma.” “I guess, I will really miss her. I love the way she always had a grin on her lips and I liked listening to her talking English. It was very helpful for me to get a second feedback about my English pronunciation. And she was often talking English as fast as I’m talking in German. That is why she became one of my favourite teachers. I also like her dream-catcher jewelry”, I have to add. On Wednesday morning, 28th May, there will be a last breakfast during which the students get some last moments to spend with her.

Pia Sophie Jennert

Bye Mel – We´ll miss you

Melanie Gray, 22, has been a Language Assistant at “Leibniz Gymnasium Essen” until today. Because she is studying German with International Relations at the Royal Holloway University, Mel has spend some time in Germany. If you study a language in England, you have to spend a year abroad. But Mel liked it so much here that she even stopped university for a year for an extended stay at Leibniz. Unbelievable! Moreover, she will even be staying in Germany over the summer as long as possible until she has to go back. However, she has to finish teaching at the end of May because Language Assistants only have their insurance until May. Then she will start university again on 21st September. Now I will stop writing about the less interesting stuff and continue with something cooler by looking at her personality and what she likes & doesn’t like. Mel, as we all called her, is a very likeable person because she has always a smile on her face. One must be trying hard to make her feel annoyed. She is so cute and handles with her pupils very relaxed. Besides, she is a humorous person, so you can also laugh with her. She creates a perfect harmony in class so that you learn and at the same time you have fun during lessons. So all in all, you did a good job, Mel. When I asked her which German food she likes she answered immediately and - without much thinking - “Milchschnitte” and “Spätzle”. Then she added that she also likes the German boiled colored eggs. When she told about it she was so fascinated, WOW ! And when I was ready to ask her the next question she added quickly that she loves Stauder beer. She was totally speechless that she almost forgot this important information. One more thing that I´ve found out was that she likes the opening hours in Germany. She is annoyed that the shops in England close at 5 pm already. These things she said spontaneously. “Maybe I want to work at the Stauder beer garden to earn some money before I leave Germany” Furthermore she mentioned a funny fact about her childhood. “I was never allowed in the kitchen because my father didn’t want me wasting food by burning it, so that is why I’m a terrible cook now.” And then she grinned. This information I found out of Mel by asking students about her: Here are some quotations: She is a sweet person”, “ At the beginning she was talking much too fast, like a waterfall”, “…”

We all will miss you Mel !

Eva Frydlewicz