Mittelrhein-Gymnasium narrowly misses out on defending its title – but celebrates a commanding 2nd place in the "kicking & reading" project
The Mittelrhein-Gymnasium narrowly missed defending its title in the nationwide project “kicken & lesen” in the 2025/26 school year – achieving an excellent 2nd place.
Photo: Ines Engelmann – (from left) Senior Headmaster Michael Pahlke, Luka Maric, Jayson-Noah Fru, Liam Mohammadali Maddi, Niraam Azizi, Daniel Schlabe, Ronin Hamo, Elian Gappenach, Markus Weidung (supervising teacher)
The Mittelrhein-Gymnasium Mülheim-Kärlich narrowly missed defending its title in the statewide "Kick & Read" project during the 2025/26 school year. Following their impressive victory last year, the school achieved an excellent second place this year, allowing them to once again look back on a strong performance with pride.
The statewide project is organized by the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of Education in cooperation with FSV Mainz 05 and pursues an innovative goal: promoting reading skills by combining them with exercise and football. Within a playful framework, students are to be inspired to read while simultaneously being encouraged in their physical activity.
The Mittelrhein-Gymnasium also participated in the competition as a partner school in the 2025/26 school year. Integrated into the school's all-day program, "kicking & reading" was offered weekly and supervised by Mr. Weidung.
The path to success once again required a great deal of dedication, perseverance, creativity, and team spirit. The participating students accumulated points throughout the school year – both by improving their reading and soccer skills. A particular highlight was again the creative presentation of a book in the form of a so-called Book Slam video. This was part of the overall score and was judged by a public vote.
After winning the school championship in the 2024/25 school year, the motivation to defend the title was high. And indeed, the Mittelrhein-Gymnasium succeeded once again, frequently outperforming its competitors. In the end, only a few points separated them from another school victory. Overall, our school secured an excellent second place, narrowly missing out on the title.
Even though they didn't quite clinch the title this year, second place is a fantastic achievement and a testament to the dedication of the students and their supervising teacher. The entire school community warmly congratulates everyone involved on this impressive result and is delighted with their continued successful participation in the "Kick & Read" project.
