Report from Washington State By Alysha Holmquist, WA-AATG President
By Angel Lane, President, AZ Chapter “AATG-WA is looking forward to coming together again in -person as we continue to meet online to share ideas.”
The Washington State chapter of AATG, in this ever-changing teaching environment, has continued to adapt with online zoom events and meetings. The chapter traditionally meets every September for a general meeting and professional development. While the last two years’ meetings have occurred over Zoom, meetings usually take place high in the Cascade Mountains at the Berghaus in Hyak. Some teachers come early Friday night for friendly Beisammensein (and libations!) and enjoy a tasty breakfast together. Professional development for the whole group takes place after the general meeting, and then break-out professional development for elementary and secondary teachers after a hearty lunch. In September 2020 we had great virtual presentations by Susanne Rinner (Goethe/ SPARK), Gabi Mais-Minkler (ZfA), and Ben Fisher (Bothell HS). Alysha Holmquist (Enumclaw HS) presented virtually in 2021. They’re really looking forward to being together again in September 2022!
By Jennifer McArthur, Staff Writer Speaking of Herr Ben Fisher of Bothell High School, he won the German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award in 2021! He began teaching both German and Spanish at Bothell High School in 2019 after the great Lynne Kalstadt retired. He had big shoes to fill and certainly lived up to it! Focusing on teaching using Comprehensible Input, he also was recently interviewed by the podcast Preaching to Acquire about supporting LGBTQ+ students in the classroom.
AATG-WA Hyak Meeting
Virtual Hyak 2020
Way to go, Ben! For more about language teaching from Ben, check out his website: mrfishersays.com Another esteemed honor given in Washington State recently was the AATG Friend of German Award. This distinction recognizes leadership in advocacy for German language and education by someone outside the teaching profession. The award was given in 2020 to Western Washington native Chris Barnes, who attended the AATG-WA spring immersion overnight camp each year in Lederhosen with his accordion and jovial personality. Even after he retired and moved away from Western Washington, Chris would drive to the camp each spring to wake up students with his Ziehharmonika. We’re hoping he can join us at German language camp again next year after our pandemic break. In 2019, West Valley High School in Yakima became an AATG Center of Excellence before the retirement of their amazing teacher Rick Beck, who began the German program in his district and taught there for 29 years. Rick also won the very first AATG Outstanding GAPP Coordinator Award in 2020. The program was taken over by Deborah Abbo, who came to WA with 14 years of teaching experience from Colorado.
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