Oregon Public Broadcasting

For many students, Tuesday was the first day of school. That can be an anxious day for any student -- and especially for first graders.

In Germany, there's a tradition aimed at easing first grade jitters. Kids receive a large, colorful cardboard cone filled with goodies called a "schultuete", or school bag.

OPB's Barbara Leidl went to the German American School in Portland Tuesday, to see how that tradition translates here.

It is a festive moment – fourteen children sit in a half circle, their parents behind them.

Everyone one is balancing a huge colorful cone on his or her lap. Taking turns, the six year olds get up, carefully carry the precious goodie-bag to the chair in front where they have their picture taken – with their Schultuete.

 It's a present that has made first graders in Germany happy for decades, says the principal of the German American school in Beaverton, Blake Peters.


Blake Peters: "The first documentary report of the cone-shaped schultuete comes from the city of Jena in 1817, closely followed by reports from Dresden in 1820 and Leipzig in 1836."

Inside the schultueten the children find little gifts, candy, school supplies.  You might call it a security blanket – with a very different shape, of course, and not as cuddly.

Blake Peters: "The idea is to make the first day of school -- which can be a bittersweet moment in a child’s life a special moment and to provide a bit of security and a feeling of home -- that’s why you see all those kids holding ‘em."

And it seems to work and take the anxiety away – says Tricia Rotter, whose son Jaden just started first grade.

Tricia Rotter: "And he was so excited, woke up at six o’clock in the morning, was all dressed, ready for school, he was ready to go, so excited to have a schultuete today.

These days the schultueten come in many different styles.

Tricia Rotter: "Looks like a popular one seems the astronaut theme with space background, a lot of the girls have the penguin ones with penguins on the outside holding pencils and then we have a few flowers and caterpillars on them and then one is the shark with the top of the schultuete as the sharks mouth – which is very creative."

Although you can get them in special stores – traditionally they’re handmade.

At the end of kindergarten the parents get together and make them, with help from kindergarten teachers.

Jaden started working on his schultuete with his dad Stefan about twelve days ago.

Jaden: "I know how to cut it out, Daddy."

Stefan: "You get the astronaut man and you’re gonna cut along these lines. And I’m gonna get all these characters, because I wanna get some planets on there for you to fly around and some UFOs."

Jaden: "You can also put this guy on."

Stefan: "You need to do some careful cutting, Idon’t want to see any cut off feet or anything."
Jaden’s father Stefan Rotter was born in the U.S,, one year after his parents moved here from Germany. He treasures the German tradition of the schultuete on thefirst day of school, although he never had one.

Stefan Rotter: "I’m just making sure that I get all mypictures because at some point, he’s gonna really love them and recognize allof his friends, and he’ll go, oh yeah, that was mine, so it is really specialthat they do that here."

Even parents with no German background, like Valerie Vickers, join in.

Valerie Vickers: "It was more exciting for my husband to make it, and for me to fill it."

When it’s finally time for the parents to say "Goodbye" and leave school , the moment arrives that the children have been waiting for: they get to open the schultuete.

Kids: "Oh, ein Auto... it’s my favorite a sharkcar... gummibears...."

And when all the goodies have come out of the schultueten the empty cones will be hung up on the ceiling of the class room for the rest of the school-year, to remind the kids how exciting school can be.