»Sapere aude, incipe! - Have the courage to use your own intellect.«

This motto of the Enlightenment comes from our school’s namesake, Immanuel Kant. It characterizes the Private Kant Schools Foundation, which facilitates the annual KANT Prize giving ceremony. Each year employees from our schools are asked to identify outstanding work reflecting this motto, which was not easy in 2021/22 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The challenge is to recognize excellent achievements from students in everyday school life and to nominate them for the KANT Prize. The jury members again received nominations from all schools in the categories: Literature & Philosophy, the Natural Sciences, and Social Engagement, as well as for this year’s Special Prize, »KANT and Climate(change)«. For the award ceremony on 05.05.2022 all nominees were invited to the Kant Hall together with their parents, the nominating staff members, and special guests. After months of COVID-19 related restrictions, finally, many people met again under one roof. It was a great feeling. In the presence of the founding couple, Erika and Horst W. Seidel (the latter was given a special tribute on the occasion of his 90th birthday) nominations were presented, and, finally, the prizes, medallions, and certificates were awarded. This year’s keynote speech was delivered by Ms Angeline Aow, who addressed shades of discrimination in everyday life. Ms Anja-M. Teichert, Head of the Department for the Senate’s Education Administration of Free Schools, also spoke before the awarding of the Special Prize. She paid tribute to the impressive work of the students, and linked this to the spirit of Immanuel Kant. This year, the Special Prize went to the Advanced Art course of the KOS/ISB-OS, who are taught by Mr Friedrich Maronde, for their exhibition »Am Fenster«. Dr. Alan Harris was delighted to present this year’s Kant Prize, which was awarded to 17-year-old Kinza from Pakistan, an IBDP2 student at B.I.S., for her Physics essay that attempted to disprove Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. Sincere thanks are due to the the many staff members who made nominations; and, great appreciation and respect to all of the students who were nominated for the KANT Prize.

Andreas Wegener
Member of the Board Foundation Private Kant Schools