Photo By Christine June | Dr. Ralf Roloff, senior German professor at the George C. Marshall European Center for...... read more read more
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany – More than 20 German elementary 3rd and 4th graders discovered “what is behind the wall” at the George C. Marshall Center for Security Studies here July 15.
The “walled” Marshall Center is just a little more than a mile from the students’ school – Gröben Schule – in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
“They see the Marshall Center’s secure compound almost everyday and the big question on their minds was ‘What is behind those walls?’” said German air force Master Sgt. Mark Winkler, German noncommissioned officer of the Marshall Center’s Public Affairs Office, who conducts about 500 tours each year, mainly for Bundeswehr (German armed forces), but occasionally, he conducts tours for local schools, organizations and clubs.
Helping to answer this question from the 8- to 10 year olds was Dr. Ralf Roloff, who is the Marshall Center’s senior German professor and gives lectures on national security policies and security studies almost every day in German and English to adults. Although he has given presentations before to middle and high school students, this was his first time to talk about complex topics to such a young age group so he enlisted the help of his eldest daughter who is attending university to be a primary school teacher.
“She told me to start the presentation with asking the students what countries they have visited outside of Germany and then show the students that country’s flag. She told me that the flags from all over the world that line the Plenary were very impressive to her when she was a little girl,” Roloff said. “So I did, and my daughter was right. The students were engaged right away.”
When Roloff asked the question, hands immediately sprang up and children proudly said “Italy,” “Brazil” and “Turkey.” Roloff found the flag, letting them know that the Marshall Center has alumni from those countries they visited during vacations.
In total, the Marshall Center has 10,537 alumni from 146 countries, who attended one of its eight resident programs: Program on Terrorism and Security Studies; Program on Applied Security Studies; Program on Security Sector Capacity Building; Seminar on Regional Security; Seminar on Transnational Civil Security; Countering Narcotics and Illicit Trafficking; Program on Cyber Security Studies; and, Senior Executive Seminar.
“I thought I would have their attention for about 20 minutes, but the presentation lasted an hour because of their questions,” Roloff said. “I was really surprised what kind of questions the children came up with and how long they listened very carefully to a very difficult subject.”
Questions included: “Did President Barack Obama visit the Marshall Center when he was here for the G7 Summit?;” “How many classrooms does the Marshall Center have?;” and, “How many languages are spoken in the classroom?”
“The feedback I got from my wife and daughter was that they both agreed that Dr. Roloff’s presentation was such a child-friendly approach that the students were engaged and really understood the adult-concept topics of his presentation and the mission of the Marshall Center,” said Maj. Braulio Mercader, the Marshall Center’s joint legal adviser, whose wife is a volunteer at the school and arranged the tour, and daughter attends Gröben Schule. “The students were very impressed with the Marshall Center staff and faculty. I think this visit added value to (Marshall Center’s) outreach program in the local community.”
Roloff agreed, “I think the tour gave them a good idea of how difficult and complex but also how interesting and rewarding the work of the Marshall Center is. They now have some information about the Marshall Center and they can tell their parents, brothers, sisters and friends what is ‘behind the wall.’”
The mission of the Marshall Center, as a vital instrument of German-American cooperation, is to create a more stable security environment by advancing democratic institutions and relationships; promoting active, peaceful, whole-of-government approaches to address transnational and regional security challenges; and creating and enhancing enduring partnerships worldwide.
For more photos of this event, visit the Marshall Center Photo Gallery at https://www.flickr.com/photos/gcmcphotos/.
| Date Taken: | 07.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 07.16.2015 09:51 |
| Story ID: | 170207 |
| Location: | GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, BY, DE |
| Web Views: | 42 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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