A beloved part of the Elementary School experience at Silicon Valley International School (INTL) is the delightful Schultüte ceremony for INTL’s 1st Grade students. While the tradition comes from INTL’s German Program, students from all three of INTL’s bilingual-immersion programs joined in the celebration as part of the unity and international awareness that is at the heart of INTL. Students and families from INTL’s Chinese and French Language Programs were just as excited to join in on the fun as their peers.
When they begin 1st Grade, German children will traditionally receive a Schultüte made for them by their parents. This rite of passage marks the transition from the playful existence of preschool and kindergarten to the beginning of the academic journey of enrichment and knowledge. A Schultüte ("school cone") is a large decorated cone-shaped container traditionally made of paper or cardboard and filled with toys, school supplies, and other special treats.
This ceremony allows one generation to show the next that while the children are moving on to a new part of their lives, their family is still with them on their new journey.
The ceremony began with a quick pronunciation lesson from German Language Dean, Claudia Gruber, with the crowd of parents and children calling out the name of the event in unison. INTL Head of School, Barbara Greiner, then spoke to the children to share her excitement about what the future had in store for them.
“1st Grade is a very special time. You will learn to read and you will read to learn. Reading is wonderful! You can read anything! Learning to read opens up whole new worlds for you. You can read about adventures, spaceships, pirates, princesses, and dragons. And you will learn to do this in two languages!”
After a few more words about how exciting and rewarding that 1st Grade would be for the students, Barbara began handing out the decorated cones to each student. One at a time, the new 1st Graders stepped down to receive their cone full of treasures. The cones were greeted with giant smiles by the children, in many cases they hadn’t seen them until this moment.
The Schultüte ranged from traditional paper cones lovingly decorated with stickers to more complicated creations with blinking lights and videogame characters. Afterward, the children gathered in the field with their families before sending the cones home with their parents and starting their school day.
Throughout the year INTL celebrates cultural events drawing from the traditions of all three of our programs, Chinese, France, and German. This sharing of celebrations and exposure to the traditions of INTL’s many cultures is one of the advantages to an international education at INTL, helping to empower young minds to demonstrate integrity and sensitivity across cultures.
