UPDATE: Earlier Release
<Please scroll down for English version>
Liebe Eltern und Erziehungsberechtigte,
aufgrund der aktuellen Wetterwarnung in unserer Region und im Interesse der Sicherheit aller Schülerinnen und Schüler sowie Mitarbeitenden beenden wir den Unterricht und das Kindergartenprogramm heute vorzeitig um 12:55 Uhr. Die Schulbusse werden das Schulgelände um 13:05 Uhr verlassen.
Um eine ungefähre Ankunftszeit an Ihrer Haltestelle zu ermitteln, bitten wir Sie, sich an den Zeiten der regulären Busroute zu orientieren.
Wenn Ihr Kind nicht mit dem Bus fährt, holen Sie es bitte um 12:55 Uhr ab.
Sollte sich die Wettersituation so entwickeln, dass es erforderlich ist, werden wir selbstverständlich alle Schülerinnen und Schüler sicher in den Gebäuden behalten und Schutz im Gebäude gewährleisten, bis eine sichere Situation gegeben ist.
Falls Sie aufgrund von Verkehr oder Wetter nicht genau um 12:55 Uhr zur Abholung eintreffen können, werden wir die Kinder weiterhin in den jeweiligen Gebäuden – Preschool, Elementary School und im Hauptgebäude – betreuen und im Gebäude lassen, bis Sie sicher an der Schule angekommen sind, um Ihr Kind abzuholen.
Bitte fahren Sie vorsichtig, versuchen Sie jedoch so zeitnah wie möglich zur Schule zu kommen, da wir bemüht sind, die Gebäude für die Sicherheit aller Beteiligten so bald wie möglich nach 12:55 Uhr zu leeren.
Sollte es zu Verzögerungen bei der Abfahrt der Schulbusse kommen, werden wir Sie selbstverständlich umgehend mit einem weiteren Update informieren.
Wir danken Ihnen für Ihr Verständnis und wünschen Ihnen und Ihrer Familie, dass Sie gut und sicher durch das heutige Wetter kommen.
Mit freundlichen Grüßen
Die Schulleitung
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Dear Parents and Guardians,
Due to the severe weather alert in our region, and in the interest of the safety of all students and staff, classes and the preschool program will end early today at 12:55 pm. School buses will depart campus at 1:05 pm.
To estimate the approximate arrival time at your bus stop, please refer to the times listed on the regular bus route schedule.
If your child does not ride the bus please pick them up at 12:55pm.
If the situation warrants it, we will certainly keep all students safely sheltered inside the buildings and ensure everyone remains safe until conditions allow otherwise.
If you happen to be delayed in traffic or by the weather and cannot arrive exactly at 12:55 pm for pickup, students will remain inside their respective buildings - Preschool, Elementary School, and the Main Building - and will be supervised until you arrive safely to pick up your child.
Please drive carefully and do your best to be on time, as we are for everyone’s safety hoping to have the buildings cleared as soon as possible after 12:55 pm.
If bus departures are delayed, we will certainly provide another update promptly.
Thank you for your understanding. We wish everyone a safe afternoon and hope you stay safe during the weather.
Kind regards,
School Leadership
The GISW above the clouds
THE START OF OUR FIRST BOX ON A WEATHER BALLOON WAS VERY SUCCESSFUL!
On May 5th, 2018 it was time for the GISW to send its first box on a weather balloon into a height of 20 000 m.
Students of the afternoon program course ‚Science for Experts‘ at the GISW spent the past months working on the box and especially on its content for the ‘Weather Balloon Project’.
On Saturday at 5:30 am, we headed over to Shenandoah Junction to be there when our first payload that was attached to a weather balloon that was launched up into the air. Unfortunately, the weather was less than perfect with quite a few clouds, but that did not put a damper on our excitement.
Shortly after 7am, a very professional team of the NEAR SPACE PROGRAM MD started filling the balloons and around 9am everything was ready for the launch.
Not only our GoPro cameras, but also our three sensors worked according to plan and brought us some amazing photos and very interesting data.
Here a few technical data points:
Max Height Reached: 23568 meters
Minimum Temperature Reached: -35.36 °C
Max Speed Reached: 179 km/h
Total time the system ran: 5 hours and 11 minutes
Flight Duration: 1 hour and 39 minutes
Time passed before flight (System ON): 26 minutes and 30 seconds
Time passed after flight (System ON): 3 hours and 13 minutes
Number of data rows: 1243
Number of data rows during flight: 399
After an hour and 39 minutes the balloon landed in a tree near Prettyboy Reservoir North of Baltimore and was recovered by a team of the ‚near space‘- initiative.
In the meantime, we have viewed the pictures and the data and and are now working on the analysis. We started with that that our little LAUNCH PARTY the first time our team met after the flight. Of course, we will publish the results in the near future!
All pictures on which you can see our box have kindly been provided to us by the NEAR SPACE PROGRAM MD.
We would like to thank the NEAR SPACE PROGRAM team of the University of Maryland, especially our contact person Tyler Boyle, who was always there for us and Prof. Dr. Derrick Lampkin who brought this project idea to the school and supported us with a strong personal commitment during all phases.
At this point, I would also like to thank the students Georgios K., Johannes Sch., and Vivien C. for their special dedication throughout the project. They really did excellent work and it was a true pleasure to be working with them.
Susanne Kneiske (AG instructor)
