How can schools empower young people to take responsibility and act when it really matters?

The “Staying Alive” Rescue Day at the Nature Campus of Berlin Cosmopolitan School (BCS) offers a clear answer: through hands-on learning, initiative, and social relevance.

Several hundred students from grades 7 to 10 took part in the project and practised life-saving measures such as chest compressions and CPR outdoors. Despite changeable weather and recurring rain showers, motivation remained high throughout — among the students as well as the participating partners from medicine and aid organisations.

With this Rescue Day, Berlin Cosmopolitan School sends a strong message about the importance of CPR education in schools. The aim is to reduce hesitation and empower students from an early age to act confidently and responsibly in emergency situations.

Berlin’s Senator for Education, Youth and Family, Katharina Günther-Wünsch, who assumed patronage for the project, once again highlighted the relevance of this topic for Berlin’s educational landscape during her visit.

One of the day’s highlights was a joint CPR exercise with around 200 students to the music of “Staying Alive” — a striking image of active learning and collective responsibility.

The Rescue Day originated from the initiative of graduating student Henri Bauckhage, who developed the project over a period of two years. In close exchange with medical professionals, education experts, and political decision-makers, he created a sustainable concept that reaches far beyond a one-time school event.

For Berlin Cosmopolitan School, this is an example of how student projects can become real social impulses when they are intentionally supported and encouraged.

The “Staying Alive” Rescue Day is exemplary of Berlin Cosmopolitan School’s educational philosophy. At its core is the conviction that education is more than the transfer of knowledge.

The school sees itself as a place where students are empowered to

• think independently
• take responsibility for their own learning and beyond
• develop projects with social impact

Through formats such as the Rescue Day, learning becomes concrete, tangible, and lasting. Students experience that their actions can make a difference — for themselves and for others.

The topic of CPR has attracted great interest not only within the school, but also in the wider public. The broad media response shows just how relevant first-aid skills and resuscitation training are.

At the same time, projects like this make an important contribution to the resilience of the next generation. Knowing how to respond in an emergency builds confidence, self-assurance, and the ability to act.

With his graduation this summer, Henri Bauckhage will be leaving Berlin Cosmopolitan School — but his project will continue to have an impact.

“Staying Alive” is more than a single project day: it is an example of how schools can create spaces in which young people take responsibility and initiate social change.

In doing so, Berlin Cosmopolitan School shows what education in the 21st century can look like: practical, responsible, and effective.

Henri Bauckhage, the initiator of the “Staying Alive” Rescue Day, had already engaged creatively with the topic of first aid before the project day itself. At TEDxYouth@Berlin Cosmopolitan School, he presented a jazzy song that shows how social commitment, music, and education can come together at BCS.