SPARK for German 120SPARKLabsandCounting...

This summer, we are excited to provide professional development opportunities for our student instructors For the third time, we are hosting our own SPARK Summer School which prepares students to implement SPARK programs in their communities in the fall In addition, SPARK provides stipends for more than 15 students and teachers to attend Middlebury Sommerschule and the Deutsche Sommerschule am Pazifik We would like to congratulate the recipients of our SPARK stipends and wish them all the best as they learn and grow to develop their language and teaching skills

For those of you who would like to learn more about SPARK, please take a look at two contributions in the most recent issue of the Unterrichtspraxis which describe the impact of implementing SPARK In “Beyond teaching heritage speakers: Prioritizing diversity in an elementary school–university SPARK teaching partnership,” Dr Pascale Lafountain, Associate Professor of German and SPARK Lab Director at Montclair State University, writes: “Building on the diversity of our university’s student population which includes 51% students of color and that of our local community, our SPARK Lab’s emphasis is on intercultural awareness and on promoting opportunities to diversify the German teaching field through curricular choices, positive representation, and program accessibility ” In “Training transferable skills: Using “SPARK” as a steppingstone to career readiness, social engagement, and program relevance,” Dr Anita McChesney, Associate Professor of German and SPARK Lab Director at Texas Tech University concludes: “Students demonstrated an awareness of the transferable skills they had gained through this experience and the professional and societal benefits Their responses also underscore their recognition of personal gains from such service opportunities, such as increased confidence and leadership opportunities One student reported that a potential employer specifically asked about SPARK on his résumé at a job interview ” These two articles add important insights to the publication from 2022 which described the implementation of the SPARK Lab at the University of Utah, co-authored by Dr. Karin Baumgartner, Professor of German at the University of Utah, and her students

Baumgartner, Karin, et al “Sparking Interest in German through the Goethe/AATG‐Sponsored Spark Program.” Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, vol. 55, no. 1, 2022, pp 126–142 , https://doi org/10 1111/tger 12199

LaFountain, P (2023) Beyond teaching heritage speakers: Prioritizing diversity in an elementary school–university SPARK teaching partnership. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, 1–5 https://doi org/10 1111/tger 12226

McChesney, A (2023) Training transferable skills: Using “SPARK” as a stepping stone to career readiness, social engagement, and program relevance. Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German, 1–5 https://doi org/10 1111/tger 12229

We would like to invite all SPARK labs and everyone who would like to learn more about SPARK to our 2023 SPARK Fall Kick Off event on Thursday, September 7, 2023 from 3:00-5:00 PM EST. Please register here: https://goetheinstitut.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZYudu2qqD4rHNycNznev7zT POLz4WP5yvwJ

We wish everybody a rejuvenating summer and again, Danke schön to everybody, in particular our SPARK Labs for their contributions to raising the next generation of students and teachers whose passion for German and the cultures of the German-speaking world will contribute to the transatlantic dialogue

SPARK for German is a joint project of the AATG and the Goethe-Institut, funded by the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany.

TheBYUGermanFairwasheldinApril2023thisyear,and420studentsandtheirteachersattended. Individualstudentsandsmallgroupscompetedinpoetryreading,skits,scenesfromplays,visualarts, solovocalmusicperformance,choralperformance,conversationalGermanviainterview,studentproducedfilms,evensoccerandbakedgoods!Judgesfromtheuniversitygaverankingsandribbonsfor thehighestachievements.

Thebakingcompetitiongavestudentsanopportunitytotrytheirhandatbakingauthenticrecipes,andit helpedthemcompareproducts,practices,andperspectivesofintheUSandGermany Bakeryfavorites suchasPflaumenkuchen,Apfelkuchen,Schaumtorte,Nusstore,andKäsekuchenwereallproperly represented.OnejudgecommentedthattheNusstorteshetastedwasjustlikewhatshebuysata favoritebakeryinGermany!

ThefairerpartoftheFairandmoreimmersiveKleindeutschlandhadboothswithgames,food,and souvenirs.Thewholeareawasmarked“Germanonly”sowhenstudentsgreetedboothmembersorhad toaskquestions,alloftheirresponseshadtobeinGerman Instructionsforactivitieswerealsogiven strictlyaufDeutsch,andalthoughitwasdifficultforsome,manystudentscommentedabouthowcoolit wasthattheywereabletounderstand.However,ifanyonehappenedtobecaughtspeakingEnglish,he orshewastakenbythepolice,thrownin“jail,”andaskedtosingaGermansongorreciteadifficult Zungenbrechertobereleased.