Mr Eric Tocknell, an innovative entrepreneur and champion for positive change in South was our special guest for the evening. He is so proud to be a South African and encouraged us all to take a look at the positive things happening in our country and start to make a difference right where we are. South Africa needs people who are willing to start a revolution for positive change and if we want to see this change taking effect, every one of us needs to step out in our community, step out in the workplace and start being part of the solution - not the problem. If our heavenly Father is for us, then who can be against us?

Several learners were there to receive their prizes as acknowledgement of a year of hard work. Blue House walked off with most of the House trophies this year. Grey House has a lot of catching up to do for 2010.

Mr Hugo Köhne and the Brass Band entertained us as well as the Senior Choir with Mrs Madondo.

Our Head Boy, Jens Hillermann, walked away with a number of trophies and prizes. He was awarded the Sportsman of the Year and the Principals Award for being an outstanding ambassador on the sports field, in the classroom and in the community for WKS. Our Dux prize was awarded to Lauren Calitz, who walked away with a number of the special subject prizes - 5 in all, amongst others. Rebecca Coetzee received the Sports women of the Year Award.

This occasion is also the time when our Head prefects are nominated for 2010 and these fine young men and women were given the awesome responsibility of heading up the school next year.

We congratulate, Nicole Uhlmann and Tiaan Lochner who were selected as Head Girl and Head Boy. They will be ably assisted by Shana du Plessis and Stefan Fortmann, our new Deputy Head Prefects.

It was a cool evening, cloudy with light drizzle. The pitch was dry, the drinks were cold and the guests ready for an evening of celebration.

The Sports Dinner is one of the highlights for the year and our way of saying thank you to many people who gave up their time and energy to help with coaching, transportation and enthusiastic support for our young sportsmen and women in our School and to our learners who have served their school in an exemplary manner. The emphasis is on SERVICE, as opposed to performance and achievement and understandably, it is our senior learners, or those who have represented the School at senior level, and served with distinction, over a number of years, that we pay tribute to.

Our wonderful guest speaker this year was Pastor Udo Lütge, (pictured above with his wife Shirley) an Old Scholar who has celebrated a productive and highly successful sporting career. He was selected for the 1st XI Cricket team from 1990 (Grade 10) to 1992 (Matric) and captained the WKS 1st XI in 1992. That same year he was WKS Sportsman of the Year.

Udo left WKS and went to study at the University of Stellenbosch. He played for their Colts side (U21 1st XI) from 1993-1994; there he played together with players such as Charl Willoughby and Claude Henderson (who both eventually represented South Africa) and Lloyd Ferreria (who represented Western Province). Udo played for the Pretoria Cricket Club 1st XI in the Northerns Cricket First Division from 1997-1998; there he had the privilege of being coached by Fanie de Villiers.

Udo Lütge now works as a youth pastor in our area and has become involved in coaching cricket and rugby at the Primary School. He is well loved by our learners who are privileged to have a man of his expertise as their coach.

Several learners were awarded certificates of Service in various sporting disciplines. Special awards were given to the following learners.

Louis Cramer: Service to Sport—Cricket umpire and Rugby Referee.
Charles Newborn: Service to Sport— Cricket umpire, Medic and Rugby Referee.
Martin Kassier: Versatile & Dedicated player, official & Medic.
Rebecca Coetzee: Player 23— All round service & support to sport.
Jens Hillermann: Sport Captain of the Year.
First Cricket Team: Team of the Year - celebrating 4 wins at the Cambridge Festival.
Lauren Calitz: Peter Jackson “Going the Extra Mile” Award (Female)
Charles Newborn: Peter Jackson “Going the Extra Mile” Award (Male)
Sporting Highlight of the Year: Girls First Hockey Team vs Howick.
Stefan Fortmann: Top Achievement 2009 for his selection to KZN Senior Men's Tennis Team and ranked No 10 U18 in South Africa.

It was our privilege, as a Grade 10 group, to go to Tala Game Reserve for four days on a German Camp. Five of the learners in the Grade 10 German class were selected, according to the effort they put into a presentation on a book they read, which was allocated to them by their teachers.

After a lot of hard work on our presentations we were all very excited to go on the camp. We were joined by other German learners from Pretoria, Johannesburg, Cape Town and Hermannsburg.

On the camp we stood in front of everyone and presented our book presentations and had the opportunity to see the other schools presentations too which were very interesting.

During the day we had the opportunity to get to know the other learners by doing different tasks that taught us to build trust in each other; how to create a play; how to carry our emotions through to the audience through acting and we even improved our German language skills whilst doing it.

One evening we went on a Night Drive around the Tala Game Reserve and saw many beautiful animals, such as Rhino’s, Hippo’s, etc. It was a wonderful experience.

With all the skills we had learnt during our stay, we were now placed into groups to prepare and create a new presentation together. We all had a lot of fun and made such good friends, all of whom we will never forget.

The whole experience at Tala Game Reserve left a lasting impression on all of us and we would like to thank our German teachers, Mrs Heidi Meyer, Miss Gizena Siebold and Mrs Birgit Eggers for this amazing opportunity.

Heidi Marx Grade 10

The trail through the ecosystems took the learners past Howick falls and some breathtaking views of the valley. Learners were riveted by every word coming out of Ranger Dave’s mouth as he explained the geology and the history of the Umgeni Valley. Finding this an interesting phenomenon we realised that the increased interest level may be attributed to the content being explained, however, the vague expression and smiles pasted on the Grade 10 girls

faces hinted at the fact that concentration levels were being maintained by something other than Ranger Dave’s knowledge. Needless to say this new found interest in outdoor activities, by the girls, ultimately resulted in an enthusiastic question and answering session.

The trail led the learners into the valley where they had a short lunch break followed by a water study. Here learners were taught a simple way to monitor the quality of a stream or river. After all this hard work our intrepid young scientists rewarded themselves with a swim in the river, taking turns down the slimy, green water slide.

Before heading back out the Valley, the brave-hearted tried their hand at the obstacle course.

At 16h00 a group of very tired and dirty Grade 10 learners dropped into their bus seats, satisfied after a long day of discovery and adventure and headed home.

By Mrs Debra Schröder

A maximum capacity of golfers and sponsors made for a most successful day out on the course as well as for the school!

Both the morning and afternoon tee-offs were well supported with many sponsors choosing the ‘Exclusive Hole’ rights for the day, to advertise their companies to the fullest!

We extend a huge THANK YOU to all sponsors! Your support is greatly appreciated! To the parents and Old Scholars of the school, who helped with sourcing sponsors, donating money, food supplies or helping on the day at the golf club ~ a very BIG thank you!!
Team effort and parent support is essential for these functions to be a success and the stronger the Wartburg-Kirchdorf School ‘team’ is the more our children will benefit!

We raised in excess of R66 000.00 and the new security entrance and upgraded parking area are already evidence of where these funds are going! The new drop off system will benefit all learners as the security at the school is increased.

Thank you, once again, to everyone who has been involved in making this 2009 Golf Day the success it was!
RESULTS
1st: 45 R Fortmann & M Fortmann - R Fortmann
2nd: 43 L Fortmann & S Fortmann - Supa Quick Dalton
3rd: 41 A Mortlock & M Masson - de Heus/Nutrex
4th: 41 O Marx & H Koning - Meister Meats
Nearest to the pin:
3rd green: Rupert Fortmann/ Horst Wortmann
12th green: Rupert Fortmann/ Stefan Fortmann & Mark Vorwerk
6th green: Ron Hall / Bokkie du Plessis
15th green: Rudi Misselhorn/Jens Hillermann
Longest Drive: Stefan Fortmann /Mark Vorwerk
Nearest to drum : H Thomas
Raffle - 1/2sheep: Ruth Jacobs, 1/2 Sheep:Mark Webber, Milestone Furniture: Vaughn Basson
Most Golf: 15 Andre Voigts/Jono Swart - Emanzini Private Game Reserve.

OUR THANKS TO THESE SPONSORS
Agri-Trans, All about Bolts, AMT Services, Armstrong Motors PMB, Avi-Pharm, Barloworld Equipment CAT, Builders Depot (F&T), C Freese, C&S Build It, Casper’s Auto Electrical, CFP Tyres, Chemiphos, ColorCrete Paving, D Kassier, Dalton Brokers, Datcentre PMB, deHeus/Nutrex, Dr R Rencken, E Hohls, Emanzini Private Game Reserve, Estorf Engineering, EW Eggers, EW Schulz, F.E.S., G McEwen, GAP Chemicals, Got Salt, GR Motors, Hayter & Bauer Management, Hillermann Bros, V Uhlmann, H Wortmann, H Habermann, Illovo Noodsberg, Indaba Training, Industrial & Chain Saw, Irrigation & Drainage, Italia Engineering, Junges Garage, Kumon/H Schroeder, L Freese, LNT, M Farming, Magnum Stores Dalton, Manline, Mascor Dalton, Mascor Greytown, Meadow Feeds, Meister Meats, Mitchells Accounting, Omnia Fertiliser, On Tap, P Straeuli, Plastic Extrusions,PriceWaterhouseCoopers, PS Sheet Metal, James’ Signs, R Fortmann, R Klipp, R Uhlmann, Raffia Tufbags, Rays Electrical, East Coast Power Steering, Reapers, Rencken Farming, R Naidoo, Rozies Agencies, Rudi’s Electrical, SA Fire, Sabat Batteries, SBS Brick & Block Sales, Schulz Wiesinger O’Dwyer, SMG PMB, Southey, Span Africa Steel Structures, Standard Yoke & Timber, Straeuli’s/Adcocks Travel, Sunshine Seedlings, Supa Quick Dalton, Tarboton Ross & Holder, Tennis+, Terramove, The Plant Factory, Trans Natal Minerals, Treated Timber Products, Trellidor, Tyre Core, UCL Co Ltd, Umgeni Livestock, Walter Meyer Agency, Wesbank PMB, Willard Batteries, XTEC PMB, Quality Meats, Belgotex Floor covering, Pannar, Jackson Sports, Biltong Man, Empeeco, Thies Trust, NAA, Cathedral Peak Hotel, Bridglee Coffee Shoppe, New Hanover Hotel, Milestone Furniture, SwissAir, TAI Insurance, Budget Car Hire, Defy Appliances, Timeless Interior, Bearing Man, Breland Spar, Nampack Sacks, Tristar Plastics, PG Glass PMB, Hulletts Alumin, Pronel, aQuellè, Waltons, Argyle Poultry, Edelnet, H Köhne, Homebase Guest Lodge, Variquip, IT Solutions, Video Shop & Number Plates, First Impression Labels, UPE, Johnson’s Outfitters PMB, NMF Dalton, Mac Fluid, Moffat Optical, Tops @ Wartburg, Schnell Meats, Noodsberg Country Club and JE Living. By Mrs B Straeuli

On Saturday, 17 October 2009, 240 Ladies, 16 Matric girls and four Matric boys met in the School Hall for a morning with a difference.

Twenty one hostesses had pulled out all the stops to decorate their tables. Each table displayed their unique, creative flair resulting in a spectacular feast for the eyes.

Amy Kendall-Ball welcomed the guests and gave us a little insight into their night on board the Titanic, their Matric Farewell.

We were privileged to have some ladies from the Class of 1984 celebrating their 25 year Reunion. Their Head girl, Petra Wiesinger, shared memories of their Matric Farewell 25 years ago. “On 13 October we entered ‘the perfumed gardens of Buddha’ to enjoy our Matric dance. I remember feeling very excited, ever so elegant and very grown up! I discovered in the School magazine that the Grade 11’s (or Std 9 pupils) had collected a princely sum of R2 700 for our big event! Wow! We wore knee length dresses and the boys looked very dashing in their suits.”

Who knows, maybe in 25 years the present Matrics will be celebrating their 25 year reunion, the Class of ‘84, their 50 year reunion and a brand new group, who are about to be conceived, will be looking all glam in their evening gowns!

Our Matric girls and their brave escorts took to the floor and modelled their stunning outfits for an eager audience. Miss van Wyk talked us through our very own Glitterati. Sixteen beautiful girls and four handsome young men, showed off their amazing outfits as they walked around the hall amongst our “oohing and aaahing” guests.

A morning like this never goes without many thank yous and Rebecca Coetzee, performed the honours. There were a number of lucky draw prizes and Marilee Wichmann won the stunning ‘Glitz & Glam’ handbag, Lynn Calitz won the Wine Hamper, sponsored by Mr & Mrs Louis and Ingelore Schröder and Mrs Mona Ortmann won the perfume.

This whole event was a fund-raiser to replace the lanes in the School swimming pool. The lane ropes have already been revamped and the pool looks really glamorous again. We would like to thank everyone who participated making our fund-raising efforts such a success.

Our amazing event co-ordinator and multi-talented organiser extraordinaire, Elona Hillermann, compiled and printed a beautiful Cheesecake Recipe Book and every guest received a copy. All the cheesecakes that our guests enjoyed were made using this amazing recipe book making this particular collection of recipes very special indeed.

Our thanks go to Elona Hillermann, Gigi Straeuli and Debra Schröder for all their effort and hard work making this event such a memorable one.

By Elona Hillermann

(Cakes are the ‘in’ swimming theme for 2009!)
Ingredients:
3 enthusiastic coaches
72 overly keen learners
15 helpful moms
1 taxi shuttle service
1 blue pool with 6 lanes
72 cups of hot chocolate & Marie biscuits
2 hairdryers
72 Goody bags – with special thanks for donations!

Method:
Choose a sunny day if possible ~ but sometimes there is no choice!
Start the day by shuttling the learners by ‘taxi’ from school to the swimming pool.
From 08h00 let the first 6 keen learners start their swim in the blue pool with lanes.
Keep time & lap check for 30 minutes.
With rain & drizzle all morning hot chocolate & hairdryers are a must for all swimmers once their swim is done.
Once warmed up and comfortable hand each learner a Goody bag of surprises (all donated!) and the higher grades a book to read with the compliments of Exclusive Books ~ the choice is theirs!
Repeat this every 50 minutes until all 72 learners have spent 30 minutes completing their laps at unbelievable record breaking personal bests!
Hot chocolate, Cappuccino Marie biscuits & hairdryers will be long remembered, while the laps swum in the freezing cold only a vague memory!
A huge thank you to all moms who offered their valuable time to the day! Your encouragement and enthusiasm at the poolside was absolutely wonderful!
To the top lappers ~ Seniors: Jens Hillermann doing 85, Tanya Rencken 71 and
Juniors: Brandon van Rooyen 61 and Danielle Schröder 56 ~ WELL DONE!!!
To the most money raised ~ Seniors: Tanya Rencken R2855.70 and Juniors: Sabine Thies R1300.00 ~ enjoy your prizes! To all learners who participated ~ YOU ARE STARS!

It is wonderful to organize an event and have such fantastic and enthusiastic learners supporting it! A huge thank you to everyone who contributed ~ this mixture of ingredients made for a superb success of the 2009 Swimathlon!

Well done everyone!

Thank you for your donations! Exclusive Books, Air France, Qatar Airlines, Safari Nuts, El Sombrero Spur, Belgotex Floorcovering, Noodsberg Country Club Restaurant, Wartburg Library, Mrs E Hillermann & Mrs B Straeuli.

The cold weather prevailed as all the passengers gathered in the car park, waiting excitedly to board the magnificent Titanic, on the night of September 22, 2009.

With shouts of, “All Aboard,” we eagerly climbed onto the gang way and were greeted by the crew, resplendent in their impeccable naval uniforms, saluting us on our arrival as we entered into the magnificent Dinning Hall of the Ship.

The Captain and First Officer welcomed us all to the inaugural voyage and after meeting all the guests we sat down to a delicious 3-course supper.

We were a little alarmed at one stage by the crew’s drama enactment of a sinking ship, but being totally oblivious to the dire situation taking place at the helm, we thought is was just a drill and carried on with our pudding. The lone life boat, situated close to the Dining Hall, proved to be a source of amusement to us. Everyone knew that the Titanic was unsinkable! Right?

The on-board entertainment was really outstanding and we thoroughly enjoyed the singing. The crew members were very talented indeed.

After all the announcements were finished, it was time for the party to begin and we all made our way towards the dance floor to kick up our heels and dance the night away. At times we all got a chance to stand on the ships bow with our best friends and taste the salt in the air as the breeze whipped through our hair and through our clothing. It certainly was a magical night.

None of us heard the loud jarring noise as the side of the ship scrapped past a huge iceberg. However, we all noticed that the ship slowed suddenly and we realised that something was wrong.

We all managed to make our way to the life boats and whilst the DJ played his music, we lowered the lifeboats and managed to get as far away from the Titanic as we could. The ship sunk very slowly and we could see the lights and still hear the faint sounds of the music in the distance as we sailed away from the stricken ship.

Whilst our voyage was a short one, full of drama and glamour, the memories of that night will remain with us forever. Our sincere thanks are extended to the Crew (Grade 11’s) and the Owner (Miss van Wyk) for an awesome adventure.

Save the planet! Stop global warming! Go Green!

Over 100 indigenous trees were distributed during the campaign to help our village GO-GREEN. So be a real life Super Hero and get involved. How? Simple… Start by planting a tree!
As the Grade 11’s would put it: “Be Cool! GO-GREEN!”

A big thank you to all who have started the change and are planting their free seeds and trees.

For all your top quality indigenous tree needs contact:
CLAVELSHAY NURSERY, 033 504 0212 OR 082 563 7499. THIS NURSERY KINDLY DONATED ALL THE TREES FOR THE GO-GREEN CAMPAIGN.

Mrs Debra Schröder

Angela Truter, Samantha Habermann and Tara Hanvey, (pictured left) competed in the biggest Pony Show in KZN in September. Angie Truter was awarded 1st place in both the Fingo jump (80cm) and the Speed and Precision Class. Tara Hanvey took part in the Showing and Jumping Class. Well tried! Samantha Habermann walked away with 5 1st Places (90cm—1m) Showing Class; 2 2nd Places in the written theory exam and 2 3rd Places in the 90cm Showing Class. Samantha accumulated the most points during the Show and was awarded the Victrix Ludorum.

On Sunday, 1 November, four swimmers from Wartburg took part in a Gala at Kings Park Pool in Durban. The entries were restricted to children 10 years and under, and Wartburg was represented by Reagan Lötter U10, Erin Lötter U9, Leeann Masson U8 and Monica (Nikka) van der Linde U7.

There were sixteen different swimming schools represented at the gala, mostly from the Durban area. It was a good opportunity to measure the progress of our swimmers against the bigger swimming schools and we were not disappointed. The Wartburg swimmers took part in sixteen events and came home with 9 medals, 5 of which were Gold! Well done to the swimmers and in spite of having short notice and not being able to get more children there, we would have won the spirit cup too if there had been one.

Colleen Masson

Five schools – Umhlali Prep, Eston, Richmond, Clarendon Primary and Wartburg took part in what turned out to be a very successful festival. The boys played plenty of cricket with eight games of non-stop action on Friday and Saturday. The amended 20/20 rules resulted in maximum participation from all schools. In spite of the competitive spirit in which the games were played, excellent sportsmanship and camaraderie prevailed throughout the weekend.

The boys and their coaches were accommodated in the Wartburg Kirchdorf Hostel, where they enjoyed very generous hospitality, especially the delicious braai supper. The guests made the most of their spacious surrounds in between games with a series of on-going impromptu games, helping to keep their skills sharp and develop friendships amongst the boys from the various schools participating.

With Wartburg providing umpires (very competent, and in some cases, highly qualified) the coaches were able to focus on their teams as well as the time and other restrictions inherent in the structured 20/20 game. This was highly appreciated by the visiting schools, and added to the attraction of the Festival.

Although the results were of lesser significance, trophies were awarded to deserving performances by batsmen, bowlers and fielders in the various sessions. In keeping with the overall spirit it was decided to award the Jacksons Sports vouchers to the visiting teams.

We were very proud of Wartburg’s Adam Wiffen, who was awarded one of the best batsmen awards for his score of 71 runs against Eston – the highest score of the weekend!

Nearly all the visiting schools expressed the opinion that the Festival should become an annual event, and hoped to be invited again next year.

We are most grateful to our sponsors, namely Variquip, Belarus tractors, Agrisales and Jacksons Sports for their support. We also need to say a very big thank you to the parents who assisted on the day, or supplied refreshments, our school and hostel staff, Mrs Lombard for co-ordinating the catering arrangements and Mr Dave Leroux for being the Match Official as well as the Hostel Supervisor.

This event was started by our Pre-Primary last year and following its success we decided to include the Junior Primary in all the fun this year. We had a terrific morning together. It was a beautiful sunny day and a festive start to a great Spring season.

Great kids entertainment was supplied with a Jumping Castle, Putt-Putt, Tombola, Pony Rides, a Kids Corner and Face-Painting keeping them busy. Delicious food and drinks were also on sale and those “German cakes” were simply delicious and probably still stuck to our hips. We even had a Mini Craft Market!

The Pre-Primary children participated in a Flower Arranging competition and the Junior Primary children entered in a Fancy Spring Hat competition. These creations were planned but prepared on the day in front of the crowd - quite intimidating for some. The creations were astounding and we are constantly amazed at the creativity of the little people in our School.

The winners:
Flower Arranging 4 - 5 year olds: WKS Prize - Caitlin Govender, Most Creative - Anastacia Sourligas and Consolation prize - Shay Goulding
5 - 6 year olds: WKS Prize - Cloudia Habermann, Most creative - Kyle Halvorsen, Consolation Prize - Rebekah Basson
Fancy Spring Hat
Grade 1
1st - Etienne Engelbrecht
2nd - Loren Engelbrecht
3rd - Sandisiwe Mngadi
Most creative - Dimitrios Sourligas
Grade 2
1st - Tameera Mari
2nd - Joelle Marx
Most creative—Matthew Wainwright
Grade 3
1st - Zahava Mauer
2nd - Michelle Engelbrecht
3rd - Eyakhe Mngadi and Erin Lötter
Most creative - Elona Engelbrecht.

All competitors received a Spur Voucher for taking part.
The Ama Plop-Plop itself was a success too, as our cow helped Mr Colin Hills win the R500.00 prize for choosing the right plot!
We received very generous donations of goods for our Lucky Draw prizes and we would like to thank all those parents, who not only participated in the event but also worked hard to help us find our sponsors. We had a terrific day and look forward to next years event with great anticipation.