Report from Maine AATG

By Arne Koch, Maine AATG President

By Angel Lane, President, AZ Chapter “This new partnership will focus on the promotion of German language and cultural education across the state.”

Challenges continue to abound during the COVID pandemic as students and teachers in Maine time and again have to navigate shifting environments inside and outside the classroom. And while the past two years may long be remembered for the cancellations of our annual Sprachfest, the reception of student award winners in the Governor’s mansion in Augusta, and even the Deutsche Woche in Bar Harbor in 2020, our small chapter takes solace in the teaching excellence of our members as well as the impressive accomplishments of our students.

No better way to begin than by recognizing teaching and learning excellence from across the state. Our outstanding high school seniors and AATG award recipients this year hailed from Cony, Maranacook, Mount View, and York High Schools. Two students from Colby College were awarded the Outstanding Collegiate Senior Award and a study abroad scholarship. We are no less delighted to celebrate Maine AATG members Melanie Kyer (FL-A-CH Award for excellence in the teaching of the language and cultures of Austria, the German-speaking areas of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and South Tyrol) and Gisela Hoecherl-Alden (Best Article in Die Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German Award with Susanne Wagner) for their recent recognition by AATG for their o By Jennifer McArthur, Staff Writer utstanding contributions to the teaching and learning of German in the US and to AATG scholarly publications, respectively. In the classroom, with the arrival of Kerry Anderson as the new teacher at the Maranacook Community High School in Readfield, students have already experienced the energy and vision that Kerry brings to her position teaching German. After months of planning, her high school recently announced a partnership with the University of Maine in Orono that offers her Maranacook students a dual enrollment option for German 1 level. Maranacook and the University of Maine are hopeful that this opportunity for beginner learners may inspire others to pursue similar collaborations.

PASCH students from Deb Backman’s Cony High School German program recently participated in the launch of the Goethe Institut’s newest learning platform, JuniorUni. JuniorUni offers opportunities to find answers to questions from the fields of technology, sustainability, robotics, space travel and energy. As part of the launch, the Goethe Institut provided a classroom set of Calliope mini computers to the German program at Cony. Students used the online editor Open Roberta Lab to program the mini computers in German. The mini computers were transformed into digital Magic 8 Balls, which the students were able to program to respond to their burning questions in German. (https://bit.ly/3Cgj6YU)

Cony High School students and their Magic 8 Balls

Our chapter welcomed a different collaboration earlier this summer at a virtual signing ceremony hosted by the Maine Department of Education to celebrate a new memorandum of understanding with the Goethe Institut Boston. Chapter members Deb Backman, Melanie Kyer (York High School), and Arne Koch (Colby) shared their thoughts and reflections on the challenges and potential for our German programs. This new partnership will focus on the promotion of German language and cultural education across the state through a variety of resources, programs, and activities — ranging from career days and student competitions to free online courses for teachers and teacher recruitment initiatives.

Finally, after COVID-19 forced hiatus of the Deutsche Woche in Bar Harbor, the annual week of German immersion and professional development sponsored by AATG Maine was back on the beautiful campus of the College of the Atlantic at the end of July. An enthusiastic group of participants (smaller due to single-occupancy requirements) was led through Intercultural Learning in the German Classroom with Professor Lara Ducate of the University of South Carolina. The presentation explored new and old ways of embedding culture in all levels of language study. Deutsche Woche Coordinator Melanie Kyer encourages all AATG members to mark their calendars for July 24-30, 2022 when we look forward to another week on the Maine coast. The week will focus on issues of diversity and inclusion in the German classroom, co-taught by Gisela Hoecherl-Alden (Boston University) and Daphne Warren (Plano Senior High School). More information and official applications are coming soon to our chapter webpage: https://bit.ly/30Abe7J

Maine Dept. of Education virtual MOU signing with Goethe Institut

2021 participants of Deutsche Woche, hosted at the College of the Atlantic campus in Bar Harbor, Maine, July 2021.