On the occasion of its 125th company anniversary last year, the globally active Zschimmer & Schwarz Group, headquartered in Lahnstein, Germany, has been supporting charitable initiatives in the vicinity of the company's locations. One of the recipients of a donation is Christiane-Herzog-Schule in Bendorf-Sayn, Germany. The all-day school, which focuses on supporting children in the development of motor skills, is part of the Heinrich-Haus in Neuwied-Engers. On the initiative of employee Vera Wüst, an interactive whiteboard – a so-called smartboard – was purchased, which opens up digital forms of learning for physically and mentally handicapped students.

"In the field of media education, it is especially important for students with physical disabilities to have a child-friendly, motivating, modern and interesting access to new media. The new smartboard makes this possible and the students are enthusiastic about it", says Dennis Rosche, special education teacher at Christiane-Herzog-Schule. "We use the board, for example, to run interactive question and answer games, to watch and research news on the internet or to write down our own news. Even severely handicapped students can use the smartboard and smart software to develop self-efficacy by leaving traces on the touch screen or navigating to objects and thus learning about the cause-and-effect principle. Thanks to the donation from Zschimmer & Schwarz, we have been able to expand our range of learning opportunities and offer our students, who are often disadvantaged in society, modern learning with new media".

Zschimmer & Schwarz has been upholding a philosophy based on mutual respect and care since its foundation in 1894. On the occasion of the company’s 125-year anniversary, the shareholders of the Zschimmer & Schwarz Group started a new charitable programme: the 1,400 employees across 16 countries on five continents were asked to present local initiatives that the company could support with a donation.

“For more than 125 years, people have been the main focus of our company in every action we take”, explains Monika Börner, shareholder of the Zschimmer & Schwarz Group. “With this philosophy, we want to give something valuable back to society and to involve ourselves in projects that deliver direct and sustainable effects at our business locations.”

Christiane-Herzog-Schule is currently one of 14 facilities and charitable projects across Europe supported by Zschimmer & Schwarz with a total sum of around 200,000 Euro.