American Association of Teachers of German

2007 Chapter Reports
Southeast Region

001 Alabama - 2007

With great sadness do we report the death of our colleague Edith Phillips who passed away a few days before Christmas. She taught at Grissom High in Huntsville, where she built up a highly successful German program in a relatively short time.  Previously, she was on the staff of UAH (University of Alabama in Huntsville) and was our former AATG Chapter President.  She was involved with German Day (a day of competition for high school students) at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, and the WILD Immersion weekend at the Hargis Retreat Center.  She loved teaching and learning.  She was still taking graduate school courses while she was sick.  She will be greatly missed.

Our spring meeting 2007 was held in conjunction with the AAFLT Annual Conference at the Mariott Hotel in Birmingham.  Our keynote speaker was Trish Coghlan, Executive Director of Alabama Germany Partnership.  In the fall, our business meeting was held at Vestavia Hills H.S. in the Birmingham suburb of Vestavia Hills.  The presenter for this event was Dr. Hajo Drees of the Alabama Development Office who reported on the recruitment of foreign companies, particularly German companies, and its impact on the State of Alabama.  We have now 52 German companies located in Alabama with Mercedes and Thyssen-Krupp being the largest ones and EADS (European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company) hoping to enlarge their facilities in Mobile, should they win a large military contract for the U.S. Air Force.  

In early December 2007, approximately 20 high school students from various Alabama high schools spent an enjoyable immersion weekend at the Hargis Retreat Center.  Professors and high/middle school teachers who were involved with this program are:

Dr. Rasma Lazda-Czars, University of Alabama
Dr. Andy Seegers, Auburn University at Montgomery
Ms. Nellie Tietz, Baldwin Arts & Academics and LAMP H.S., Montgomery
Mr. Gunars Czars, private middle school in Tuscaloosa
Ms. Muriel Hoequist, Alabama School of Arts and Science, Mobile

I want to thank them for their time commitment for this project. We are now looking forward to the AAFLT Annual Meeting in Montgomery on February 1 and 2, 2008, and German Day a few days later.

Submitted by: Trudy Clements, Chapter President. E-Mail: clementstf@vestavia.k12.al.us

011 Florida - 2007

Many things have happened in 2007 in Florida. We started 2007 with the "Sprachbad", our Immersion weekend in New Port Richey. The topic was "Kochen & Technology".  A local chef Uwe Kasper from The German Restaurant taught German teachers how to make Rouladen & Rotkohl, while Silvia Tolisano introduced us to Technology in the German Classroom (Wikis, Podcasts and iPod).  Our FATG spring meeting took place in Daytona Beach during the annual Florida Association of Students of German (FASG) convention.  And the decision was made to have the Spring meeting in March as a "Fortbildungsseminar" in March 2008 in Orlando.

Unfortunately the summer also brought some sad news. One of our own, Ralph Moores, teacher at Lake Brantley High, passed away this summer while in München on a tour with his students. Several memorials were held - one for colleagues and teachers during the summer and a very emotional memorial at Lake Brantley High School, where students remembered their teacher. Ralph will be missed!

Congratulations go to Sara Hoefler (chosen to be Florida’s German Teacher of the year for 2007).  Way to go Sara!!  At the Florida Foreign Language Association (FFLA), the following teachers were honored as MVTs (Most Valuable Teachers): Susan Mahon, Dawn Wirbel, Chris Gildner, Sara Hoefler, Sheree Stewart, Annemarie Schünemann & JC Morales.

This fall our very own Prof. Hal Rennert of the University of Florida (UF) retired. However, he plans on staying on as advisor and mentor of the FATG.

Florida also welcomes our new Fachberater from the Goethe-Institut New York located in Atlanta, GA, Michael Höfig, who is very much interested in supporting teacher of German and their programs in 12 of the southern states including Florida. He is reactivating the Netzwerklehrer Program. Florida also welcomes Maren Wichelhaus from the Auswärtiges Amt working and assisting teachers of German.

Overall 2007 was a year of activities and changes in Florida, these changes will continue into 2008.

012 Georgia - 2007

AATG Ga. has had a busy year, beginning in January with our annual Sprachbad at Tybee Island.  This immersion weekend was attended by almost forty German instructors and this year saw a return to the general theme  „Aus der Praxis, für die Praxis“ with presentations relevant to all levels of German instruction. Susan Crooks lead an interesting discussion on the topic „Thematic Units and Backward Design in foreign language Instruction“. 

The State German Convention was held at Camp Jackson, Covington, Ga. the first weekend in February and was attended by a record number of students from all over the State.  The theme of this year’s convention , organized again so wonderfully by David Jahner, was „Sehenswürdigkeiten in deutschsprachigenden Ländern“. 

At the SCOLT / FLAG conference held in Atlanta in March, AATG. Ga. hosted a breakfast with a presentation by Helene Zimmer-Lowe on the subject of Articulation. AATG Ga. members Margita Haberlen, Michaela Claus-Nix and Diane Widmer also presented at the conference. 

In May we held our annual AATG honors night at the German Cultural Center (formerly Goethe Institute) where we recognized students who scored over 85% on The National German Exam.  Also honored were our teacher of the Year, Beverly Dukes, Leader of the Year, Cassandra Goolsby and Student of the Year, Elliot Strumlauf.  This year’s Governors Honors candidates and Congress Bundestag Scholarship recipients were also congratulated. For a complete list of awards, please see the Spring 2007 edition of the Rundschreiben on the AATG, Ga. website.

In May we were delighted to welcome the new language consultant for German in the South East, Michael Höfig. Michael has wasted no time in joining us in our activities and has already presented at two of our workshops. 

Our Fall workshop was held this year at Emory University with the theme „Unterrichtsentwicklung: neueste Tendenzen“ and Michael Hoefig was our main speaker. 

In January 2008 we again held our Sprachbad at Tybee Island Ga. And enjoyed presentations from Michael Hoefig, our Membership Chair, Margita Haberlen, and our Treasurer, Michaela Claus-Nix amongst others.  

As I write this, we are very busy preparing for this year’s State Convention which takes place tomorrow (Feb 1st) and Saturday. Our theme this year is „Feste und Feiertage.“

Submitted by: Janet Ward, Chapter President. Email: wardj@thewalkerschool.org

020 Kentucky - 2007

We held our annual meeting during the conference of the Kentucky World Language Association in Louisville on October 12, 2007. Stephen Krashen was the keynote speaker for the conference. Co-vice presidents Ruth Styles-Hawk and Tom Leech chaired the KY-AATG meeting, which was devoted to a discussion of possible initiatives and plans for the future, including the revision of the constitution and the formation of an outreach committee to approach school districts creating new high schools about the benefits of including German in the curriculum. The past year was a good one for German in Kentucky, with several new positions being filled in various parts of the state and school districts committing to replacing retiring teachers with new ones to maintain healthy programs.

Submitted by Tom Leech, Acting Chapter President. Email: leech@nku.edu

028 Mississippi
(Inactive for 2007 year)

041 North Carolina - 2007

North Carolina (http://nc.aatg.org/) enjoyed another fine year in 2007. Burkhard Henke (Davidson College) assumed the presidency from the able hands of Brigitte Woloszyn (R. J. Reynolds HS) while Lisa Worthington (Northwest Guilford HS) was elected Vice President. Brigitte Woloszyn agreed to serve as new Membership Chair, Scott Denham (Davidson College) took over as Testing Chair. Christiane Hawkins of Oak Ridge Military Academy will continue as Secretary-Treasurer.

We first came together at our spring meeting at Lenoir Rhyne College in Hickory on 17 February 2007. Organized and hosted by Werner Schulz, the meeting drew some 30 teachers from across the state who discussed the state of the advocacy and articulation projects in North Carolina. Two fine presentations by Brigitte Woloszyn and Beth Gulewich addressed the topic of the meeting, “Connections, Connections: Linking Language Learning to Music, Art, and More.”

On 22 March 2007 Norgard Klages hosted the seventh annual German Day for elementary, middle, and high school students on the beautiful campus of Salem College. The motto was “Deutsch macht das Leben süß,” and the event was attended by over 500 students from app. 30 schools. I cannot say enough about the exemplary collaboration between college and school teachers. It made the event a memorable experience for students and educators alike. Besides the skit competition, there was a song competition, a spelling bee, a verb bee, 3 levels of poetry recitation, 2 levels of extemporaneous speaking, an art competition, a poster contest, a Gummibärchen guessing contest, 2 levels of a cultural bee, and separate events for heritage learners. German Day was a resounding success that did much to promote enthusiasm for German across the state.

We owe a huge thank you to the organizers, Norgard Klages and Scott Denham (and Linda Shoaf), as well as the many teachers, judges, and students who helped make German Day such a success. Results, photos and description of the events can be retrieved at http://nc.aatg.org/archive/germday07.html.

In July, seventeen middle and high school teachers enjoyed another engrossing Summer Institute held at Davidson College. Now in its fifth year, the week-long immersion experience is one of the  most inexpensive faculty development workshops in the country and has become a real draw.In October, our chapter was well-represented at the annual FLANC Conference (Foreign Language Association of North Carolina). We offered a promotional booth as well as six German sessions, one of which was voted top 10 presentation of the year.

Participation at our fall chapter meeting in Elon, 9-10 October 2007, was excellent and discussion highly productive. On Friday evening a panel addressed the meeting’s theme,  “Too Much Literature? The Role of Literary Studies in the German Classroom.” Afterwards we enjoyed a  screening of The Lives of Others. We were fortunate to have with us Consul General Lutz Görgens and his deputy in Atlanta, Sönke Lorenz, on both days. On Saturday they both spoke to foreign affairs issues, elaborated on the ties between academia and the German business presence in the Southeast, and had many general insights to offer. We agreed on continued collaboration with the Consulate General before the business meeting concluded the event. Many thanks to Scott Windham of Elon University for hosting the meeting.

2007 was again a successful year in the national annual AATG Testing event. 79 students in North Carolina scored above the 91st percentile as non-native speakers who have spent no more than two weeks in a German-speaking country, and were thus eligible to apply for one of the study trips. Of this group, 16 (or just over 20% of those eligible) applied for a study trip. Our Testing Chair, Scott Denham, interviewed every applicant for about 15 minutes during a scheduled telephone interview. We could not be more pleased and proud that, once again, both of North Carolina's nominees received study trip awards. The non-senior award went to McKenzie Noblitt, a student of Deron Hablutzel at Butler High School in Matthews, the senior award to Lauren Woolsey, a student of Linda Horvath at Providence Senior High School. In addition, we were able to sponsor a third student who spent her summer in Berlin. We are very proud of all those students and teachers. It was once again a strong group of study trip award applicants.

Co-sponsored by NC-AATG and FLANC, our annual North Carolina German Immersion Weekend for advanced German students, Deutsches Wochenende, was held 9-10 November 2007 at Camp Caraway in Asheboro. It is a great tradition dating back to 1980, and we especially encouraged new colleagues to participate. Unfortunately, participation was low this year, despite the fine organizing efforts of Michelle Boaz and others. The theme was “Musik: Die Sprache der Welt.” Among the events were a Schnitzeljagd, a Talentschuppen, an Unterhaltungsabend, a Spiel des Wissens, a Staffellauf; and a quiz bowl game. As customary, many prizes were awarded.

We in North Carolina are continuing the practice of paying for first-year membership for first-year teachers out of chapter funds, and of offering to any full-time student half-price registration for our chapter meetings. We are also mindful of unemployed teachers of German in money matters. We are encouraged by the increasing attendance of our meetings, but continue to keep a watchful eye on maintaining paid membership on all teaching levels. Brigitte Woloszyn has done a great job for us as Membership Chair and we are optimistic that 2008 will be another banner year for the chapter. 

Respectfully submitted by Burkhard Henke, President. Email: buhenke@davidson.edu

050 South Carolina - 2007

The Sprachbad of 2007, under the direction of President Kirsten Krick-Aigner, was hosted at Wofford College in Spartanburg from April 20-21. Approximately 25 German educators met at Wofford College in Spartanburg to exchange ideas and to discuss technology in the classroom, the teaching of contemporary films, and to distribute teaching materials. We viewed and discussed the films "Das Leben der Anderen" and "Rosenstrasse." Wofford College German major Patrick Hobi gave a presentation on "Multicultural Switzerland" and German major Claudia Winkler presented on the Stasi in relation to the film "Das Leben der Anderen." Renate Atzler of Greenville Technical College also presented teaching materials to "Das Leben der Anderen." Katya Skow of The Citadel held a workshop on "Using Business Scenarios in Business German." After a lunch and a "Spaziergang" on Wofford's campus, Kirsten Krick-Aigner held a workshop on "How to Prepare Students for College-level German and Beyond." Karen Patinella, representing Spartanburg District 6 Schools, followed this with her workshop "Did you know you already speak German?." Bill Stuermann of North Greenville Technical College taught participants how to use MOODLE in their classrooms. Following the business meeting, where Karen Patinella was elected President for May 2008-May 2010, members enjoyed a dinner downtown.

The SC Chapter again met in October of 2007 in Greenville, hosted by AATG SC member and former President Johannes Schmidt. The sessions included sessions such as "Der Kulturtag im Deutschunterricht," and a workshop on "Und nach der Schule: die Eltern."

The upcoming Spring 2008 Immersion Weekend, ³German for ALL: Multicultural Diversity in German Speaking Countries,² will take place at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC, from Friday afternoon, March 14, to Saturday evening, on March 15.

Submitted by: Kirsten Krick-Aigner, Chapter President. Email: krickaignerka@wofford.edu

057 Virginia - 2007

The four major activities of the chapter in 2007 were the Spring Workshop at the University of Virginia in April, the TPRS Workshop at the end of July, the Immersion Weekend at Sweet Briar College at the end of September and participation in the FLAVA Conference in October.

The theme of the Spring Workshop (4/28/07) was Deutschland Aktuell Gegenwartskultur im Unterricht (Germany Up-to Date Current Culture in Instruction). Presentations focused on up to date DVD's for the classroom, advertising in the German world,  multiculturalism in Germany and video clips from the Discovery Channel. With over forty participants, the workshop provided excellent materials and strategies for instruction.

Once again the TPRS Workshop held at Sweet Briar College (7/22-27/07) was sponsored by the AATG national office, and attracted teachers from all over the United States. It remains the only TPRS workshop organized especially for teachers of German.  Last summer was the fifth annual session.

The theme for the Fall Immersion Weekend (9/28-30/07) was Jugendkultur und Jugendliteratur (Youth Culture and Youth Literature). Renate Ringstad, who teaches in Connecticut, and Joan Campbell, the developer Of German On-line: Distance Education Network (GOLDEN) led the program. The program was enhanced once more with the Volkstanzen (folk dancing) led by Larry Becker, and presentation of classroom materials by Stefan Brunner from the Goethe-Institut. Thanks to the sponsorship of the Goethe-Institut in Washington and the Commonwealth of Virginia,  the weekend continues to be a great success.

In the works for this year are the upcoming Spring Workshop in April with its theme Teaching about German Americans and Germans in America. The workshop is scheduled to take place in Williamsburg this year in combination with the continued celebration of the 400th anniversary of Jamestown, and to commemorate the arrival of the first Germans to Virginia in 1608. A TPRS workshop is also scheduled for July at Sweet Briar College and an Immersion Weekend is being planned for the fall of 2008.

Submitted by: Larry Becker, Chapter President. Email: Larry.Becker@VBSchools.com