ISHR Students Go Behind the Scenes at the Lower Saxony Parliament

At the end of March, four of our Grade 11 students—Max Dorn, Mariella Jaensch, Joel Wagner, and Victoria Weitze—had the exceptional opportunity to take part in the Landtag-Online project, attending the March plenary session of the Lower Saxony Parliament in Hanover.

As part of this immersive two-day experience, the student editorial team observed key debates and interviewed several prominent political figures, including Minister President Stephan Weil and Vice President of the State Parliament Jens Nacke. They delved into pressing political topics—from ship recycling to youth language trends on TikTok.

A special highlight was the mentorship of Lower Saxony’s Minister of Education and Vice Minister President, Julia Willie Hamburg (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), who not only helped organise interviews but also joined the morning editorial briefing. She also gave an in-depth interview on issues such as mobile phone bans in schools and education for democracy—topics chosen by the students themselves.

The ISHR team’s journalistic work is now live on the project’s editorial platform: https://www.online-redaktionen.de/plenum03-2025

“This was more exciting than we expected. The debates and interviews really opened our eyes to how politics works behind the scenes,” said the team. Their teacher, Judith Schmidt-van Die, added: “It was a fantastic experience, and we are especially grateful for the support from Ms Hamburg.”

This marks ISHR’s first participation in the Landtag-Online project, and we couldn’t be prouder of how our students represented the school. Their curiosity, critical thinking, and communication skills shone throughout the experience.