06 Dec A lot of Christmas cheer and the first PVA Award of the year

Dear reader,
We started our December in the best way here at Ranum; in the company of families and visitors we held this year's Christmas market, culture and family day on December 1. On top of a busy weekend, we have had a quiet week of normal classes, which is now about 3 weeks since the last one. First we had project work, then bridge building and lastly performance week, but now we are back to maths, French, science, culture and English. Although we are back to normal teaching, we have also had time for some entertaining activities during the week.

Christmas market, culture and family day
Saturday was a fantastic day here at Ranum. We had the house full of Christmas-loving families and visitors. The Christmas market went really well and we collected donations for our upcoming cultural studies trips - thank you! While shopping at the Christmas market, more stories about the cultural subjects were told around the classrooms and on stage in the common room people laughed along as our actors, dancers and musicians brought the play 'Search for a Star' to life.

PVA Award
When we went on our first profile trips, photos were taken, videos were made and articles were written. Once a while has passed and students have put their travels behind them and returned to everyday life, they can sit in their room with friends or in the living room of their family home and look back on the unforgettable journey they had with new friends. Here at Ranum we appreciate being able to look back on those memories through a great photo, video or article and so of course we've been running our first of three PVA Awards. Students submitted their own best entries and Ranum's very own panel of judges looked through it all and found the photos, video and article that just had that extra something. But the winners don't just go home with the glory. Each winner will receive a prize of 500 DKK each, while the winner of 'Best of the Best' will receive a GoPro Camera to take on our next trip in January.

The three best photos
The three best photos were taken by Johanne Viker, who was in Egypt diving. Congratulations!

The best picture
The best picture was taken by Steffani Sørensen, who was on a profile trip in Spain with Surf. Congratulations!

The best video
The best video has been made by Tobias Morso, who was also diving in Egypt. Congratulations!

The best article
The best article was written by Laura Vinstrup, who was on a profile trip to Sweden with adventure. Congratulations! In her article Laura wrote:

"We were all ready for a quiet canoe trip on Sønder Å, we thought. It turned out that the river was very busy and several times we had to drop our socks and shoes to push the canoes free from stones. It took a lot of cooperation and willpower to keep going, even though we were wet and cold. At the end of the evening we reached the place where we were going to spend the night, and wet and exhausted we had to pitch our tent and cook. Salmon and pasta, yum. [...] Stars shone in the sky, I sat surrounded by my best friends and looked into the dancing flames of the blue, and that's where I think the bond of community was strongest"

The best of the best
The 'Best of the Best' award goes to the student who created a product that topped the four categories. The winner in this category was Anika Bejer, who was also in Spain with the surf. She took three photos and made a video.

Christmas in Europe
On Wednesday evening, our EVSs invited us for a nice evening to get to know them, their culture and Christmas and New Year traditions a little better. Because what exactly is EVS? EVS is an acronym for European Voluntary Service and this year we are lucky to have four volunteers here at Ranum. Natiia from Russia, Maéva from France, Olga from Serbia and Alberto from Galicia. A lot of curious students showed up for Wednesday's EVS Evening, which started with a short presentation of the four volunteers. Then they organised a couple of competitions, with of course a small gift for the winner. Finally, delicious food from the home countries of the EVS volunteers was eaten and the evening came to a close.

From China to Denmark 
It was also this week that we were able to welcome three guest teachers from China; Miguel, Huang and Echo. During the next three weeks they will follow the teaching here at Ranum and learn some of our teaching methods. Of course, they will also learn a bit about what it means to attend a Danish and international school in Denmark. 

Visit from Santa's workshop
During the week, we've been busy during the students' breaks with a Christmas calendar competition. Santa's Little Helper has been visiting us and throughout the week he has been on excursions around the school; he has been to biology, gastronomy, the cinema and he has also had time to play a little Mario. The pupils have been fully focused on finding our Little Helper and that has meant that not many minutes have passed before a few pupils have knocked on the door and been handed the day's calendar gift.

Support for new Maritime base in Rønbjerg
Ranum Efterskole College has received DKK 966,000 in support from the Nordea Foundation's DKK 50 million coastal pool, which is awarded to projects that create activity and strengthen the community along the country's coasts. The funding will be used for a new maritime base and equipment bank in Rønbjerg, which will help create more activity along the coast from Aggersund to Hvalpsund. With new user-friendly rental boats and water sports equipment such as SUP boards and surfing equipment, we hope to attract new visitors to Limfjorden and at the same time contribute to the local community along the coast. We have a strong desire to be a driving force in strengthening the community in Himmerland and around the small harbours and coastal towns in the area. Our coastal project will be for the benefit and availability of anyone who wants to try sailing and water sports activities.

On weekends many of the students are off to a student party, which of course means that it will be a little quieter than usual this weekend at Ranum. 

Next week we'll see our beautiful Lucia procession, of course, but we're also starting a period full of term tests. 

Have a great weekend!

The best Christmas greetings from all of us at
Ranum Efterskole College