More and more start-ups are not only striving for commercial success with their innovative ideas, but also aim to have a sustainable and positive impact on society and the environment. Three young companies from Paderborn have also set this goal for themselves. They are being supported by Paderborn University's start-up centre, garage33, in their project to create added value for society in the field of education. With "Glückskinder", "StudyFriends" and "AR-Physics", the focus is on three projects that support and encourage children and young people in various ways.
Glückskinder is committed to developing the potential of primary school pupils
Developing social skills and personal potential can be a challenge in everyday school life. The start-up "Glückskinder", founded by Pia Heinrichsmeier and Christopher Kühne, has developed a certified prevention programme for children of primary school age. It enables pupils to learn how to deal with feelings in small groups in a playful way and build self-confidence and inner strength. The founding duo focus on attentive individual support, as Heinrichsmeier and Kühne are convinced that every child has their own pace of development and unique talents and abilities. At the same time, they attach great importance to promoting community and connection. The prevention programme, which is certified by health insurance companies, is financed by public funding and has already been successfully implemented at Scharmede primary school. The start-up is now looking for other schools and institutions that would like to incorporate the programme for developing potential into their everyday school life.
StudyFriends – with tutoring for more equal opportunities
With the aim of combating social inequality, the Paderborn start-up "StudyFriends" offers free tutoring for pupils who would otherwise not be able to afford it. Children with a migrant background in particular benefit from the multilingual and individually tailored courses. Daniel and Busra Filipovic founded the start-up and know the challenges that pupils with a migrant background have to overcome from their own experience. With StudyFriends, they pursue an approach that goes beyond school support: in addition to organising teachers, they also take care of applying for funding for students. As many of the start-up's teachers can teach in several languages, a learning atmosphere based on understanding and empathy is created. With their idea of creating a social education programme, they have already reached 3,000 pupils and 25 partner schools in North Rhine-Westphalia. Their greatest success to date was that they were even able to save a pupil from deportation with a tutoring programme. Thanks to the tutor organised by StudyFriends, the pupil successfully passed his exams. The team is currently planning to further expand its network of teachers and schools and is actively looking for further partner schools, teachers and funding opportunities.
AR-Physics bring physics lessons to life
Because they found their own physics lessons at school too theoretical, Philipp Siedhoff, Felix Lachtrup and Jost Reelsen developed the AR-Physics app alongside their A-levels. It is a mobile app that uses augmented reality (AR) to make physics experiments more accessible to pupils. Any smartphone or tablet can be transformed into an interactive laboratory, allowing physics to be experienced in a new and practical way. Experiments can be safely carried out and repeated anywhere – in the classroom or at home. The virtual experiments not only make physics lessons more exciting, interactive and vivid for pupils, but also enable a hands-on experience even when school equipment is limited. The app has already been downloaded 5,000 times and is currently being tested at the first local schools. The start-up is working on rolling out AR-Physics across Germany soon.
This text was translated automatically.
