The road to Berlin
"Small acts can do big things." If not at EduRef, then where else? That's what we thought at EduRef when we first heard the motto of the 2018 Google Impact Challenge. Under the guidance of Janna Kraft, we went through the multi-stage application process until we found ourselves among the 100 finalists. The 50 finalists with the most votes in the online voting each had 20,000.- euros in prize money in store - which would make it all possible for us! With the prospect of new laptops for our participants, we started motivated into the "election campaign" for the most votes.
But how would we get as many votes as possible? We decided to go on the offensive on all channels. Via flyers and posters we advertised our association and asked for votes. Via Facebook and Whatsapp we wrote to our relatives and friends, asking them to support us with a vote. Last but not least, we received hundreds of votes via personal conversation on the street: on the summery squares of Karlsruhe, we offered a water ice for a five-minute conversation about EduRef - ideally followed by a vote for our association.
After three weeks in which each individual showed full commitment to EduRef, Janna, Lukas and Moritz flew to Berlin on behalf of the team for the award ceremony. At the Vollgut warehouse in Neukölln, the finalists, jurors, and representatives from politics, the media, and business gathered in a tense atmosphere over Club Mate and couscous salad. Then the award ceremony begins. Google greets them and thanks them for their "great commitment" to Germany's "unique club landscape". Then finally the good news:
EduRef is the winner of the Google Impact Challenge 2018!
Full of joy and with enormous pride in the entire team, the return flight to Karlsruhe is set off after a fitting celebration. New laptops, computer mice and course materials are ordered immediately. The first newly acquired hardware is already being used in the just starting Java advanced course.
Many thanks to all our great members who made this success possible! Many thanks to Google.org for the Impact Challenge 2018! And thanks to all of you who voted for us!