President’s Letter

What a year it has been! Almost all of us who are classroom instructors had to change the ways in which we teach to make the best of the ongoing situations presented to us with the COVID-19 pandemic. Change seemed to be almost the only constant that we could find, or at least it seemed that way.

I know very well that this academic year, really the time span from March 2020, has not been easy, and that many of us are running nearly on fumes, but as I wrote in my spring letter, it is getting better. Summer has arrived, and with the season ’s change, there comes time to refresh, restore, and renew. To help you all do that, I would like to highlight some opportunities from AATG available to all of us.

This summer we are launching a series of virtual Stammtisch meetings on Zoom approximately twice per month. These are open to every AATG member and will be informal times when we can gather to discuss issues and ideas. Please know that the Board and I greatly value your input and feedback. Everyone who belongs to AATG are welcome to participate in these Stammtisch meetings, and I will welcome each of you gladly. Specific meeting details will be sent out first in an official AATG email and then posted as well in our official social media, Facebook and Twitter.

On our website I would like to draw your attention to the Funded Program Offerings. AATG has long offered a splendid array of programs to its members, and this year we have added even more options for which members can apply. Under the Funded Program Offerings you will find descriptions of each program, application deadlines, and contact information for point people who can answer questions about specific programs. Please take a few minutes to explore the area, and let me stress that you are always welcome to apply for programs for which you are eligible.

We are crafting a new version of the NextGen leadership training program. The original seed for NextGen came from the TraiNDaF program of the early

2000s. Our leadership enhancement program was reimagined as NextGen in 2015. We have received funding through Netzwerk Deutsch for a new cohort of leaders, and this time we are focusing on AATG members who are part of underrepresented groups and within the first five years of their teaching careers. This cohort of newly trained leaders will have its first meetings in Washington, D.C. from September 9-12, 2021.

Our student study trips will return in 2022, and there will be various positive refinements to the programs. For example, we are looking at the idea of having a range of topic-specific trips as one of the offerings. To facilitate all of this important work, the national AATG has hired a new full-time director of programs. A message introducing our new AATG staff member will be sent in an official AATG email to all members!

With the mention of student study trips, I would like to draw your attention to our new AATG Professional Development fund, dedicated to assisting AATG members with financial assistance for professional development opportunities. We have never had a fund that has been specifically dedicated to funding professional development, but now we do. We have managed to bring this fund to life in this most difficult year. I want to thank each AATG chapter and each of you who have contributed to the fund. We truly are investing in both ourselves as well as future German language educators via our contributions. Thank you very much. We are still getting the fund firmly established, so information about applying for professional development help will be coming out when the details are completed. I would like to thank our past president, Susanne Rinner and our executive director, Mike Shaughnessy, as well as our fundraising committee, for their hard work in establishing this fund.

The AATG Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has been working hard on an all-member survey that will be sent to the email addresses that are registered for official AATG communications. This survey will help to

gather refined demographic data from all of us, and that information will be used in myriad ways. By having detailed data, we will be able to design programs, address needs, and plan for the future. The link for the survey will be sent via email in July. The deadline for completing the survey is September 14. Please take the time to complete the survey when it arrives in your inbox.

As we progress forward from this most unusual academic year, I want to thank you for your herculean efforts to provide instruction to your students. I know it was often not easy teaching to a grid view of students in some form, or to classrooms of masked people, or whatever variance was your experience. We were all dealing with things we could not foresee well nor change easily. I hope that you will take time this summer to replenish yourself and to recharge. Some of my plans include working on major revisions of my core curricula, spending time reading a stack of books on a range of topics, and training to run a full marathon again.

Our organization is alive and doing well because of the efforts of so many people and partner organizations. I hope that the information I have highlighted here will inspire you to seek out something in the AATG with which you can become involved. I will be doing that, and I hope to see you too! As always, please know that I welcome emails from you all. Thank you; what you do matters deeply.

Sincerely,

Cheyenne Mountain High School Colorado Springs, Colorado runhiketeach@yahoo.com