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2021 Member Awards and Recognition
by AATG
M e m b e r A w a r d s
The American Association of Teachers of German recognizes 19 individuals and one German program for their outstanding contributions to the teaching and learning of German in the US.
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AATG Outstanding German Educator Award
Ela Gezen, Associate Professor and Program Director for German at the University of Massachusetts Amherst; Cindi Hodgdon, German teacher at ConVal High School, Peterborough, New Hampshire; and Linda Costa, teacher of German at Jonas Salk Middle School in Old Bridge, New Jersey, received AATG’s highest honor, the Outstanding German Educator Award. This award is presented in recognition of demonstrated excellence in German education and creative leadership in German language education in local, state, and national arenas.
Ela Gezen Cindi Hodgdon Linda Costa
AATG Center of Excellence
German Embassy Teacher of Excellence
One German program was recognized as a German Center of Excellence. This designation is presented to well-established and growing German programs with demonstrated excellence in instruction and strong support from administration, professional colleagues, alumni, and students. The Billings Public Schools German program in Montana is this year’s designee.
Benjamin Fisher, German teacher at Bothell High School, Bothell, Washington; Victoria Henecka, teacher of German at British International School of Houston, Katy, Texas; and Mirela Kimbrough, German teacher at Brookwood High School, Snellville, Georgia, received the German Embassy Teacher of Excellence Award. The Embassy recognizes up-and-coming German teachers for excellence in teaching, creativity, and outstanding dedication.
M e m b e r A w a r d s
The award recipients were recognized at the virtual 2021 Awards Presentation on November 20, 2021 presided over by Doug Philipp, AATG President.
FL-A-CH Award
Melanie Kyer, teacher of German at York High School in York, Maine, was recognized with theFL-A-CH Award for excellence in the teaching of the language and cultures of Austria, the Germanspeaking areas of Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and South Tyrol. The award is sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum, the Embassy of Switzerland, and the Embassy of Liechtenstein.
The AATG/Goethe-Institut
Outstanding GAPP Coordinator
Award, which honors a teacher who provides opportunities for students to study abroad through the German American Partnership Program, was presented to Jeffrey Dyer, Oregon High School, Oregon, Wisconsin.
Goethe-Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit
Five educators were recognized with theGoethe-Institut/AATG Certificate of Merit for their achievements in furthering the teaching of German:Britta Kallin, Associate Professor and Director of the German Program at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia; Heidi Lechner, teacher of German at Libertyville High School in Libertyville, Illinois;Pamela Scholz, teacher and language school director at the German American School of Palo Alto, California;Kathryn Sederberg, Assistant Professor of German at Kalamazoo College in Michigan; andMark Wagner, teacher of German at Nicolet High School, Glendale, Wisconsin.
Britta Kallin Heidi Lechner Pamela Scholz Kathryn Sederberg Mark Wagner
Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award
Megan Brazle, Springdale High School, Springdale, Arkansas, and Jonathan Wipplinger, Associate Professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, received the Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Teacher Award, which recognizes outstanding teachers of German who strengthen intercultural understanding.
M e m b e r A w a r d s
At the 2021 Awards Ceremony, the American Association of Teachers of German (AATG) recognized four individuals for their contributions to the scholarly publications of the AATG.
Recognized for her scholarly work is Patrizia McBride, Professor of German Studies, Senior Associate Dean for Social and Interdisciplinary Programs, and Director of the Institute for German Cultural Studies at Cornell University in New York. McBride received the Max Kade Prize for Best Article inThe German Quarterly.
The German Quarterly Graduate Student Paper Award
Emir Yigit, Cornell University, New York, received The German Quarterly Graduate Student Paper Award. His paper will be published in an upcoming issue of The German Quarterly.
Susanne M. Wagner, Associate Professor of German, University of St. Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota, and Gisela Hoecherl-Alden, Professor of the Practice in German and Assistant Dean & Director of Language Instruction at Boston University, Massachusetts, were recognized with the Best Article inDie Unterrichtspraxis/Teaching German Award.
Susanne Wagner Gisela Hoecherl-Alden
2021 Awards Presentation With Special Thanks
Austrian Cultural Forum New York Austrian Bundesministerium für Bildung Checkpoint Charlie Foundation Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Embassy of Switzerland German-American Partnership Program Goethe-Institut Max Kade Foundation Schulamt des Fürstentums Liechtenstein
A special THANK YOU to all Life Members!
As an AATG Life Member, you get full access to AATG member benefits for the rest of your life. Invest in your future while supporting German at great savings.
New AATG Life Members in 2021
Cynthia Chalupa
Shannon A. Dubenion Smith
Glenn Ehrstine
Jean E. Godsall-Myers
Mark W. Himmelein
Juan Carlos Morales
Jonas Strecker
Honorary Members and Fellows of AATG
Congratulations!
Congratulations to Thomas Keith Cothrun, who at the 2021 Annual Membership Meeting of the AATG, held virtually on December 5, 2021, was named an Honorary Memberof the organization by the assembled membership. Honorary Members are distinguished Germanists or specialists in second language acquisition with a focus on Deutsch als Fremdsprache. They are recognized scholars of international stature who have contributed to the advancement of Germanic studies in the fields of literary studies, linguistics, second language acquisition, or pedagogy, or distinguished K-12 educators with significant regional and/or national impact.
In addition to this honor, Honorary Fellows of AATG are distinguished men and women of letters. Distinguished men and women of letters is to be interpreted in a broad sense. They may be distinguished scholars or professionals in German studies fields outside language and literature; or they may be creative writers or essayists. Nominations for Honorary Members and Honorary Fellows: Active AATG members may nominate persons to the committee chair. This may be done independently or through an AATG chapter. The last day to submit nominations is September 1, 2022.Find more information at www.aatg.org/page/HonoraryMembers .
Sharing your responses
Andrew Richards, Pennsylvania Als ich jünger war, hatte ich wirklich keine Ahnung, was ich mit meinem Leben machen wollte. Selbst als ich an der Uni begann, war es mir noch unklar. Ich wusste, aber, dass ich schon seit vielen Jahren Deutsch gelernt und studiert hatte, so mein Plan begann, sich zu formen.
Die meisten meiner Verwandten waren Lehrer und ich merkte als Kind, dass wir irgendwie immer den Sommer frei hatten. Dann begann der Plan klarer zu werden. Ich dachte, dass meine Deutschklassen immer relativ klein waren und hatten auch die besten Schüler. Diese Kombination von Sommerferien und kleine Klassen mit guten Schülern war unwiderstehlich.
Die letzten 25 Jahren sind schnell gegangen. Ich arbeite seit 20 Jahren an einer der besten Schulen in Pennsylvania, wo ich AP Deutsch unterrichte, sowie die Kleinen an der Mittelschule. In den früheren Jahren, war mein Leben von der Arbeit geprägt. Ich war auf dem ExCo von PSMLA, durfte oft nach ACTFL reisen und war Chapter President für WPWV. In 2005 habe ich ein Fulbright Austausch mit einer Schule in Berlin gemacht und für ungefähr 5 Jahre nachher, hatte ich ein Austausch mit meiner deutschen Schule.
So, wie hat das Unterrichten von Deutsch mein Leben geändert? Sehr positiv, wenn ich ehrlich sein muss. Ich hatte die Chance, oft nach Deutschland zu reisen, ich durfte mit hochintelligenten jungen Menschen arbeiten, und mein Leben hat beruflich relativ wenig Stress, weil ich normalerweise nicht unter die Lupe komme.
Kristina Wassmann, Ohio Tja, ich wollte doch eigentlich nie Lehrerin werden, geschweige denn Deutschlehrerin. Aber so ist das Leben nunmal, voller Überraschungen. Seitdem ich Lehrerin geworden bin, habe ich mich Hals-über-Kopf in den Beruf verliebt. Ich lache jeden Tag aus vollem Hals mit meinen Schülern. Ich freue mich tierisch, wenn meine SchülerInnen plötzlich einen tollen Dialog von sich geben, und wenn sie mir zeigen, wie viel Spaß ihnen der Unterricht macht. Deutschlehrerin sein? Hält mich jung, find ich cool, macht mich stolz!
Didn’t get a chance to submit your response? AATG members are welcome to complete the survey for a chance to be featured in a future AATG Aktuelles.
German Major at University of Alabama Chosen as Rhodes Scholar
Congratulations to German major Nicholas Hayes, whowas selected as one of 32 Americans to receive a Rhodes Scholarship and will study at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom after graduating college. Hayes is a German and mathematics student at the University of Alabama (UA). Nick is the university’s 16th Rhodes Scholar. He is an “impressive student... the Germany faculty here were thrilled to support his candidacy. AATG members Matt Feminella, Doug Lightfoot, and Raegan Lemmond wrote letters of support,” said Corinne Crane, AATG member and German professor at UA. Here is UA’s press release: https://news.ua.edu/2021/11/ua-student-chosen-as-a-rhodes-scholar/
Submitted by Corinne Crane, AATG Member
Have a colleague you would like to highlight? Know a rising star in the German teaching community? Tell us about them.
Submit content to our newsletter form for a chance to featured in a future AATG Aktuelles: aatg.org/page/newsletter
Award recipients for Indiana Teacher of the Year were submitted to AATG Aktuelles by the Indiana AATG chapter. The awards were presented at the Indiana AATG Annual Meeting in November 2021 during the Indiana Foreign Language Teachers Association Conference.
Jen William is the collegiate award winner for this year’s Indiana Teacher of the Year. Jen is a professor of German and currently serves as the Head of the School of Languages and Cultures at Purdue University, where she has been on the faculty for 19 years. She has thoroughly enjoyed teaching a range of undergraduate and graduate courses during this time, with some of
Jen William with Indiana AATG her favorites being the Introduction to the Study President Tim Malchow of German Literature; German Cinema; and German Expressionism. Jen continues to teach while in her current administrative role, which keeps her grounded—while she really likes leading a large department consisting of 14 different languages, going to class to interact with her students remains her favorite part of any day. She also serves as faculty advisor to Purdue’s chapter of the German National Honor Society, Delta Phi Alpha. Her research specializations are 20th- and 21st-century German literature, film, and cognitive studies. Along with book chapters on these topics, and articles in journals such as The German Quarterly and German Studies Review, she has published two monographs and has coedited three scholarly essay volumes. Since 2008, she has served as a co-editor for the German literature entries in the comprehensive online resource The Literary Encyclopedia. Corbin Mathias has been a teacher at Fishers High School for the past seven years,and is the 2021 secondary education award winner for Indiana Teacher of the Year. Corbin teaches levels 1-3 of German and has helped grow the German program and German Club at Fishers. He has co-led two GAPP international exchanges (2016,2018) with his colleague, Robin Geisinger. Before coming to Fishers, Corbin taught all levels of German at Copley HighSchool in Ohio, and taught English for a year at the Emil-PossehlSchule in Lübeck,Germany as part of the US Fulbright Program. Corbin would like to thank his studentsfor many great memories, their incredible work andtheir creativity over the years. He is also grateful for the strong network of outstanding German teachers acrossIndiana, especially his former teacher, now colleague, Robin Geisinger. Of course, none of this would’ve been possible without his original source of inspiration andformer teacher, Mary Ann Verkamp, who encouraged Mr. Mathias to study abroad on an AATG summer program in high school and who still inspires him in his work everyday.
Corbin Mathias with Indiana AATG President Tim Malchow
A native of Germany, Michaela Houldieson is the K-8 award recipient for Indiana Teacher of the Year. Michaela graduated from Valparaiso University and began teaching that year at the Middlebury High School. The following year, she began teaching at Valparaiso High School, where she taught German 1 through 5, including AP and IB for 15 years. She moved to the middle schools in Valparaiso in 2020, and this is her second year teaching at that level. Michaela’s teaching style is very European in that she wants students to learn how to think for themselves and learn through trial and error, herself taking on the role of a guide rather than a lecturer, whenever possible. Michaela’s biggest current goal is to regrow the German program at Valparaiso Middle Schools to where it was ten years ago.
Michaela Houldieson with Indiana AATG President Tim Malchow
Justin Martinson is Indiana’s Rising Star. Justinearned a B.A. in Communication and Culture from Indiana University with minors in German and studio art. After studying for a semester abroad at Leuphana Universität in Lüneburg, he returned to Pfaffenhofen an der Ilm, the site of his first experience in Germany as a high school GAPP exchange student. There he spent two years living and working in the local hospital. While training to teach English in Munich with CELTA, he found his calling to teach and enrolled in Calumet College of St. Joseph’s Transition to Teaching program where he also went on to earn a MA in teaching. He taught second grade for two years at Liberty Elementary School in Chesterton, IN where he also introduced the German language and culture to his students. For the past four years, he has taught German at Chesterton High School and continues to travel to Pfaffenhofen, his home away from home, now alongside his own students through the GAPP exchange. He is also the director of CHS’s children’s theater productions.
