On the go with "Sunny Kids"

Complete Care

It’s summer break and mom is spending all her time at the office?
Dad is working all day and I have to go to grandma’s again?

Not a problem for children of SMA Solar Technology AG employees. We provide excellent childcare during the summer break for kids ages 1 month to 14.
Each year the “kleine Stromer” non-profit organization offers a childcare program tailored to the wants and needs of our Sunny Kids. Here the future of SMA can paint, do crafts, play games and many other cool activities, just like they would at any normal daycare.

Complete Care

Each day here begins with breakfast in the group room and then we break into smaller teams. Whether this is followed by a tour of the plant, crafts, outdoor sports or music, no one gets bored. They are even happy to eat the delicious food in the cafeteria. 🙂

What if Mom has the night shift?

That’s no problem either. The community childcare program, in cooperation with SMA, is there for your kids from 7am to 10pm. A team of three to four caregivers and one apprentice from the HR department, who is involved in the coordination of the project, watch over our Sunny Kids, making sure everything is taken care of from breakfast to dinner.

Film Fury

and Action!

An extra special highlight this year was SMA Film Week, August 1–5, 2011. Kids ranging from 6 to 14 years of age wrote, filmed, edited and recorded music and put on quite a show.

A group of about 30 kids formed two teams, each with a different focus.
The first team worked on a cartoon project and made their own animated short film. From the script to the soundtrack, everyone helped, and the proof of their hard work came later in the form of the finished DVD. 🙂

“Mr. Stieglitz, what do you actually do here?”

The second team created a news report on SMA AG. They got the chance to ask everything young people might want to know. This group dug deep to give us a close-up, behind the scenes look at the leading inverter manufacturer.
Nothing was left out, from breakfast in the group room to the most interesting sites, such as the large production hall in Building 60.

The manager of the Corporate Culture & Social Awareness department, Frank Stieglitz, agreed to give a tour and our Sunny Kids had the chance to ask him and other employees questions along the way. Equipped with a microphone, camera and a list of questions, the kids did not hold back.

From Sunny Kid to Big Star

From Sunny Kid to Big Star 🙂

The best part of the summer film project is not only that the kids got to do everything on their own and present the work to their parents. No, the best part is really something special. The finished films will premiere later at SMA, and will even be broadcasted on Kassel’s public-access channel. This way the kids will get to watch their own film or news report from home.

Conclusion

The children of employees are always welcome at SMA and you don’t want them to miss out on this. Here, our business is not just solar energy, we are also dedicated to the bundles of energy that will carry our companies into the future.