WV-AATG Sprint Retreat 2007
The retreat opened with a welcome dinner that featured "good old" sauerkraut, sausages, potato salad and other delicious cuisine
and discussed important issues related to the German language programs in West Virginia.
A review of current events and trends including fashion, music, and generation issues was presented by Bethany College participants
Linsey Coghill, Vanessa Plumly and Harald Menz.
Guest speaker John Stark, Aurora, IL, conducted introductory activities for his workshop presentation 'Porträt einer Stadt: Köln durch Medien.'
The evening concluded with watching the "Auftrag deutscher Bundesrat" video and the humorous "echt fett" video clips produced by the Austrian broadcasting corporation.
Saturday's workshop featured John Stark's "Medienreise" and all participants enjoyed his practical approach and combination of media, activities and pedagogy.
The retreat also hosted the first WV-AATG Outstanding German Student Award ceremony and honored the following students that were accompanied by their parents, families and friends during the luncheon (from left to right):
Amy Lynn Prescott (Morgantown HS), Vanessa Plumly (Bethany College), Garrett Wallace (Elkins High School),
Michelle Leigh Kinsley (WVU), Audreanna Haines (Capon Bridge Middle School), Jason Whittier (WVU),
Sarah Kuhn (UHS, Morgantown), Tesla Sensenig (South MS, Morgantown), Lyndsay Taylor Wetzel (Romney Middle School).
All recipients received prizes provided by the Embassies of Austria, Federal Republic of Germany and Switzerland.
Congratulations and the best wishes from the WV-AATG chapter to students and families!
The afternoon sessions concerned current trends and issues of Switzerland and Austria and were presented by Beatrice Hook and Karl Schoder, respectively, and featured the "Switzerland update" video.
Special thanks go to our presenters and supporters: John Stark, Linsey Coghill, Vanessa Plumly, Harald Menz, Beatrice Hook, Karl Schoder, AATG, WVU Department of Foreign Languages, WVU Department of Curriculum and Instruction/Literacy Studies, WVFLTA,
Embassy of Austria, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany and Embassy of Switzerland.
Resources related to the retreat can be found at:
Unterrichtsentwürfe von Mohamed Esa
GEOlino.de
Sendung mit der Maus, Lieder
Blinde Kuh, Materialien
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Lantern Parade - Laternenumzug
We had our first lantern parade on 18 November, 2006, and all the children and parents had lots of fun. We paraded through Morgantown's Suncrest neighborhood and
enjoyed cookies and tea afterward at the Krepps Park's Pavilion.
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Morgantown High School Student wins in AATG Poster Contest 2006
Morgantown High School student Danielle Cress (Morgantown HS, teacher: Margit Crouse) won 2nd place in AATG's 'Discover German!' Poster Contest 2006. Congratulations! A snapshot of the winners' posters can be found at Discover German!.
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Oktoberfest 2006 Impressions
The second “Oktoberfest meets Morgantown” took place on 8 October from 11:00-5:00 p.m. in Krepps Park. The event was organized with the help from Bethany College, Morgantown HS, South MS, University HS, WVU German Club and West Virginia Friends of German. The Oktoberfest attracted over 250 people of all ages who value the German language and cultures. The event offered a variety of activities for children and adults including a soccer tournament between high-school and university students, a puppet show, German music, and German food.
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| The Pavilion – Unser Oktoberfestzelt |
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| A puppet show – Kaspar Theater “Anna und Sepp auf der Salzburg in Salzburg, Österreich" was presented by students from Bethany College. |
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Unser Rummel - Ritterschild basteln, Hüte fuer Prinzessinnen, Duftsäckchen, Dosenzielwerfen, Hufeisenwerfen und Nagelbalken.
The Fairground – craft projects including knight's shields, hats for the princess, fragrant sachets, tin can tossing, horseshoe tossing, and a nail beam. |
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  Harald Menz provided live music to everybody's delight.
"Lose" were sold to support future WV-FoG activities: Jedes Los war ein Gewinn! Every fortune was a winner!
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 Soccer competition - Fussballturnier - MHS, UHS and a Student Team competed for the first place. This year's winner was the Student Team - congratulations!
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 German teachers: Rita Denton, South MS, Gertraud Irwin - this year's WV-FoG community award winner, Margit Crouse, MHS, and Beatrice Hook, MHS.
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We thank all guests for their support and gratious donations.
We also appreciate your supporting comments and feedback: "... to the Organizer - and all the contributors to the German food picnic at Krepp's Park yesterday. It was a delicious German meal - and a nice occasion, all-around. Ron & Nancy Klein" |
Special thanks go to:
Morgantown Beauty College Inc., Boston Beanery, Chick-fil-A, Despina & Jogi's German Cuisine, Eat'n Park, Glasshouse Grille, Starbucks, Wendy's, Austrian Embassy, and German Information Center. |
 The event was also featured in WVU's Daily Athenaeum - follow the links to "Festival highlights German heritage:" Headline News and Full article, and Channel 5 News.
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Study Abroad Fair 2006
On 20 September 2006 West Virginia University held their annual Study Abroad Fair. WVU's German Department participated and used the opportunity to recruit for programs in Fulda and Lueneburg among others. There were a total of 803 students that signed into the fair. Of those 36 signed up at the German table expressing an interest for studying in Germany. The student interest was highly varied from those who did not know any German to others who would like to study long term, such as a year to aid them in moving towards fluency.
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MHS Winners in National Exam
Once again this year MHS had several winners in the WV-AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) NATIONAL GERMAN EXAM FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS.
Seniors Amy Prescott, Aron Kearns, David Li, and Anand Narayanan won 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 5th place respectively in the level 4 exam.
Senior Ahna Lewis won third place in the level 3 exam. Sophomore Ava Lintz won first place in the level 2 exam. Congratulations to all of them.
 At the WV-AATG Spring retreat on March 3, 2007, Amy Prescott (President of the MHS German Club) was also awarded the WV-AATG Outstanding German Student Award for MHS.
Amy has also just been chosen to receive a scholarship from the Congress-Bundestag which will afford her a one year study trip in Germany,
where she will attend a German school and live with a German family. CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK, AMY!
Sophomore Erik Hanson also received a scholarship from the Congress-Bundestag, and he, too, will spend a year studying in Germany. CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD LUCK, ERIK!
MHS is proud of these outstanding students.
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WV-AATG Fall Meeting at the WVFLTA
WV-AATG members at the WVFLTA Fall Conference, September 23, 2006. More information can be found here.
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More Arts in German Class
In July 2006 the WV state superintendent of schools, Dr. Steven L. Paine, wrote an article concerning Arts in education, titled "W.Va. to Make the Arts a Priority in 21st Century" (link). In short the article calls for more support for effective Arts education in schools and states that the funds for this academic year were doubled. Looking back at what WV-AATG offered over the years to German teachers, we are on the right track and have been even at the forefront with workshops like “Theater in the Classroom (2006)” and presentations like “Poetry in the Classroom (2003).”
The first WV-AATG Skit Night, inspired by the Foreign Language Department of the WV Bethany College, will take place during the Spring Retreat 2007. The Skit Night is also in honor of Dr. Jürgen Schlunk to keep memory of his outstanding work and support for the Arts at WVU alive. The second Oktoberfest already welcomes skits to be presented to the public as warm up activity for spring. The Kinderstunde has for years used the Arts as tool for learning the German language and culture and regularily featured puppetry, music and creative art projects. This semester’s Kinderstunde theme is based on artists from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.
This article is a short reminder for all of us that the Arts are not only wonderful for private entertainment but also in your classroom. Continue your wonderful work and add a few more Art projects to engage students further in critical thinking, creative problem solving and collaboration. Enjoy the Arts!!! Toi Toi Toi...
PS: Wird "Toi,toi,toi" "feucht" artikuliert und spuckt man der betroffenen Person dabei über die Schulter, so bringt - nach einem angebl. seit 1900 gepflegten Aberglauben - dies einem Künstler (oder jemandem, der sich dafür hält) Glück.
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WV-AATG Spring Retreat 2006: Theater in the Classroom
The WV-AATG invited to its annual Weekend Retreat at WVU's downtown campus on the weekend of March 31-April 1, 2006. The retreat's focus was on Theater in the German Curriculum: Classroom Practices and Performances. During the workshop part, which was facilitated by Bettina Matthias, a faculty member at Middlebury College, participants had the chance to learn about strategies and techniques used in theater training including activities such as ice-breaking and warm-up exercises, role-playing, and other communicative tasks to "unlock" their own creative potential and that of their students (download the full program here: Program, PDF, 63kB).
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Technologie Samstag: Windows Movie Maker and iMovie as Instruction and Preparation Tool
This WV-AATG workshop was organized and presented by Sandra Schoder and Harald Menz and introduced the audience to Windows Movie Maker and iMovie.
These software products allow create movies on PC/Windows and Apple/Mac platforms. This hands-on technology workshop allowed participants to created their own movies and approaches to integrate these tools in teaching and classroom projects were introduced.
(WVU White Hall Computer Labs, Morgantown, WV, April 8, 2006, 10-5pm)
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Oktoberfest 2005 Impressions
“Oktoberfest meets Morgantown” - The event, which took place on Sunday, October 16th from 1:00-5:00 p.m. in Krepps Park, was visited by over 200 people of all ages who value the German language and cultures. A variety of games and activities for children and adults–including a soccer competition between students and teachers–a puppet show, German music, and German food were offered.
The Pavilion – Unser Oktoberfestzelt
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| The Fairground – Unser Rummel mit Dosenwerfen, Sackhüpfen, Toilettenpapiemumie, Nagelbalken, Einlochen, Lebkuchenherzen dekorieren, Hindernislauf, Dreibeinlauf, Kulturquiz, und Zielwerfen. Live music with Harald Menz - Na, fabelhaft! Lieder zum DAF Unterricht. |
  Information table about offered programs at Suncrest Middle School, MHS, UHS, WVU, and Bethany College.
Thank you remarks by Dr. Cynthia Chalupa.
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| A puppet show – Kaspar Theater “Anna auf dem Oktoberfest in München" was presented by the WVU German Teaching Assistants Achim, Heiko and Miriam. |
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| Soccer competition - Fussballturnier - four teams took on the challenging opportunity of becoming the first Oktoberfest Champion. The team of Morgantown High-School defeated their rivals from University High-School and also the WVU Student team, making them the competition's winner. WVU Student team finished second, while University High-School and WVU German Faculty teams finished third place. |
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| Guests enjoy the German food - Johannes Herber and Achim Zeidler. |
 Margit Crouse, MHS German Teacher, interviewed by Channel 12 News.
We thank all the guests and raffle prize contributors for their support and gratious donations.
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Special thanks go to:
Embassy of Switzerland, German Information Center, Despina & Jogi's German Cuisine, Morgantown Beauty College Inc., Pinocchio's Books&Toys, Jay's Daily Grind, Blue Moose Cafe, Slight Indulgence, Mountain People's Market co-op&kitchen, Daily Kneads, Karin Chesslo, and Dieter Schaupp. |
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WV-AATG's Thirteenth Annual Weekend Retreat 2005
The Future of German in West Virginia: How to Build and Maintain Programs
April 8-9, 2005, Morgantown, WV
Friday, April 8, 2005
Location: Mountaineer Room, Mountainlair of WVU, Downtown Campus
| 6:15 | | Registration and dessert bar after dinner on your own. |
| 6:45 | | The State of German Programs in the U.S. and West Virginia (Cynthia Chalupa/Sandra Schoder) |
| 7:30 | | Beating the Odds: Building and Growing Your German Program (Christopher Gwin). Presentation and group discussion. |
| 9:00 | | Gem�tliches Beisammensein (out on the town) |
Saturday, April 9, 2005
Location: E. Moore Hall, Downtown Campus, WVU
| 9:00 | | Pod-Work. (Group discussions by region)
Topic: The state of your program / what you have done to increase enrollments and visibility. Identifying problems and possible solutions. |
| 9:45 | | Presentation of group discussions |
| 10:15 | | Break |
| 10:30 | | Strategies that work: Working with the administration and the community to build your German program (voices from the field in West Virginia). Presentations with discussion. |
| 12:30 | | Lunch |
| 1:45 | | Pod-Work.
Topic: Designing a concrete plan of action (mutual visits, PR efforts, building linkages between elementary, middle-/high-school, and university programs) |
| 3:00 | | Presentation of plans and concrete schedule for executing them (think baby steps!) |
| 3:45 | | Wrap-up |
We thank all participants for their contributions and discussions, which made this retreat a great experience and success.
Participants of the American Association of Teachers of German Annual Weekend Retreat 2005 "The Future of German in West Virginia: How to Build and Maintain Programs."
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AATG Participants of the West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers' Association Fall Conference "Celebrating the Year of Languages" 2004.
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WV-AATG Weekend Retreat 2004
We held our Twelfth Annual WV-AATG Weekend Retreat April 2-3 on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown. Our topic was "Bridging the Gap: Articulating German Programs in West Virginia." Workshop presenters: Cynthia Chalupa (right) and Sandra Schoder (left).
Participants of the Spring retreat "Immerse yourself" 2004.
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WV-AATG Weekend Retreat 2003
We held our Eleventh Annual WV-AATG Weekend Retreat April 4-5 on the campus of West Virginia University in Morgantown. Twenty-two teachers of German from the secondary and post-secondary levels and several college students participated. Friday evening was a time to get reacquainted with colleagues and meet new ones. The WVU German Club organized a buffet-style dinner. Chapter President Gertraud Irwin recognized teachers and students who had participated in the 2003 National Testing and Awards Program. Our retreat continued Saturday with a workshop on Professional Opportunities for Teachers of German, partly funded by a grant from AATG. Since it is difficult for many teachers to enroll in on-campus courses during the school year, we familiarized them with the GOLDEN Program (German On-line Distance Education Network), tailor-made for teachers living in a rural state like ours. We were fortunate to retain two outstanding workshop leaders: Joan Campbell, director of GOLDEN, and Kathryn Corl from Ohio State University, who gave a hands-on introduction into the program.
Advocacy was another topic we began to explore this year. In May, Cynthia Chalupa, our vice-president and professor of German at WVU, participated in a leadership program in Washington, D.C. on advocacy and networking as the recipient of a TraiNDaF Award. She presented her ideas with great enthusiasm at our annual West Virginia Foreign Language Teachers' Fall Conference, September 20, in Charleston. After discussing ways of promoting German in our schools and communities, she challenged us to come up with ideas and share them with our colleagues on an on-going basis. We plan to continue to explore advocacy for German in future meetings and workshops.
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WVFLTA Conference 2008: September 19-20. Follow link to the conference site.
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Read more about the WVFLTA 2007 Conference highlights
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The Year of Languages 2005 (ACTFL)
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American Association of Teachers of German
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