“Little Culture Testers” from Rheinkamp High School visit and review theaters, galleries and concerts: “Culture is absolutely wonderful!”

Culture is boring? He thinks! Culture isn’t just an old-fashioned hat, but, as Michele (13), thinks, even “absolutely cool!” Along with 29 other students from Rheinkamp High School, the teen is an “emerging culture tester,” a member of the team from one of Moers’ unique programs to date.
The goal of the project is to facilitate access to cultural performances by young people between the ages of 16 and 28. “Sparking interest and breaking barriers are important here,” emphasized Eva Marksen and Katja Ruters of Moerser Kulturbüro, who are supporting the project.
The pilot project works flawlessly, and the students are more than enthusiastic. At Rheinkamp Grammar School, there has been a “Cleverix” promotion for gifted students since 2014. Children who have shown themselves to be particularly curious, eager to learn and socialize, are allowed to leave regular lessons for up to four hours a week in order to research their own projects, which go beyond Its subjects and contents are regular school subjects. This includes the Junior Culture Tester programme. The procedure goes as follows: Registered culture testers are invited by e-mail from the Culture Office to visit and review certain events.

Close cooperation with the Cultural Office

Cultural performances that are presented over a longer period of time are particularly suitable for this purpose. Eva Marxen and Katja Roters are in frequent contact with various cultural partners in the city, such as the Schlosstheater and the Grafschafter Museum. Then young people visit an event and evaluate/describe it in the form of text, photo and/or video. From the culture test site, the posting can then be done through various social media channels. The city administration can use Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for this. But the work is also distributed through private student channels. “Posting our reviews on as many social media channels as possible is the best opportunity to reach many young people. The range of cultural events we get is very abundant. Yasmin (16 years old) gets excited about it. Along with Linja (16 years old) and two other girls, she is Editor-in-chief of the Culture Department at Grammar School.
The first visit of the new culture testers has already taken place. Good luck. At the “Moerser Ateliers open” event the young people were in close contact with the artists. “I liked it very much,” Ida says. The 12-year-old was particularly impressed with the large, accessible patchwork cube by artist Rita Lazzaro. “It looks really cool. I also think it’s good to have Kulturtester, because unfortunately most young people have nothing to do with culture.” A 2-minute video has also been created for the “Moerser Ateliers open” which gives an insight into the event.

Neil (13 years old) is looking forward to visiting the Castle Theatre

It is also clear to teachers Sylvia Muller and Yvonne Balters that students achieve a great deal in addition to normal daily stress. Members of the culture department work six hours a week on the project in a room equipped with two computers and tablets. “The students are very hardworking,” Mueller said happily.
Next is a visit to the castle theater and archaeological work at the excavation site in the vicinity of the castle. Neil (13 years old) is excited: “I am especially looking forward to going to the theater because I love acting. I have been to the Elspe Festival many times.”
However, special coordination is required to visit the Palace Theatre. Photography and filming are not permitted during performances, but during public rehearsals. A good opportunity for culture testers to get into a conversation with the actors, experience so much firsthand and be able to get a behind-the-scenes look that no one else would ever encounter. After the review, you will receive two theater tickets for the reviewed play or another of your choice as a thank you. If an exhibition or concert is reviewed, there is free entry for culture testers.

Would you also like to become a “junior culture tester”?

As an added incentive, the Cultural Bureau offers all cultural testers a free one-time participation in a media education qualification program, the “Video Editing with Mobile Devices – Best Tricks for Instagram and YouTube” workshop. This would make it easier for students to make their reviews attractive and professional. More information about the culture test program is available at www.moers.de and www.gymnasium-rheinkamp.de There is also a clearly organized cultural calendar in which the editors about Jasmine and Lena regularly post tips for great events for young people (information also at cleverix_grem on Instagram). If you are interested in becoming a Junior Culture Examiner, please contact the Culture Office: [email protected]