School guides make the way to school safer. Nevertheless, it is becoming more and more difficult to find volunteers for this honorary position, also in the community of Gauting.
Gauting - The dark morning hours in winter are particularly tough. During these hours, school helpers are indispensable in the towns. Nevertheless, it is becoming increasingly difficult to recruit volunteers for these assignments. For the next school year, the community of Gauting is now desperately looking for reinforcement for its student guide team.
Dr. Katharina Frenck from Stockdorf has been a school walker for 13 years, "about half the time as a coordinator," she says. Your son has long since grown up and has just graduated from high school. Nevertheless, Frenck stands on the street every Monday morning and, together with other volunteers, ensures that her protégés reach the school house safely. “The kids are just lovely,” she says. They are all different, some always stay shy, others talk about their dreams, about their birthday presents. Apart from that, of course, the main thing is to ensure safe conduct. "And when you've already achieved something at 7.45 a.m. on Monday morning, that's a good feeling too."
A total of 25 school helpers are active in Stockdorf and 49 in Gauting. “Far too few,” says Frenck. In Stockdorf alone there are five crossings, in Gauting there are 13. In Buchendorf there are also two bus stops that are used by primary school children. There are also different times when the children go home. "If you calculate it exactly, we would need around 100 helpers for Stockdorf alone during regular school hours, i.e. without Corona," says Frenck. But of course that is completely illusory. “It is important that we occupy the dark hours of the morning. If additional appointments are possible at lunchtime, I am happy. "
Frenck regrets that fewer and fewer primary school parents are with the school helpers. “Most of us don't have any children at school anymore,” she says. A father, for example, even volunteers to help out to school every morning, "while his child has also just finished high school". Then he goes to work. In addition, there are some pensioners who simply enjoy the children a lot. At the end of the school year, however, some helpers would stop, Frenck knows. "It's going to be tight."
The community is now looking for support in both Gauting and Stockdorf. Four times a day must be covered for each transition or helper position, namely before the start of school and at 11.20 a.m., 12.15 p.m. and 1 p.m. That means 260 assignments in Gauting and 140 assignments in Stockdorf (including Buchendorf) per week. The community appeals to all parents and people who have the inclination and the time to contact Manuela Eislinger at (089) 89 33 71 58 at the town hall.
