Birth of a Concept at the Deutsche Schule Washington Natalie Olsen
The 1977-1978 DSW Yearbook shows Counselor Natalie Olsen with history and German teacher,Peter Zahn, and some eleventh graders.
In the Spring of 1974 I entered the Administration Office of the DSW on Logan Drive. Asking to meet with the School0s Director, I was ushered into Horst Breckwoldt0s office. He received my offer to design and implement a Counseling and Guidance program for the school with considerable interest. After two hours of questions and explanations concerning program philosophy, goals, objective and services to be provided, Mr. Breckwoldt allowed that a counseling program could be beneficial to the DSW. Being the visionary he was, Horst Breckwoldt saw the inherent potential of the counseling and guidance function as a bridge between the American and German educational environments. I was hired in August of 1974 for two hours per week. I spent an additional 35 hours each week at the school devoted to observation, conversations with faculty, parents and students, as well as counseling graduating 12th and 13th graders on college and university admissions. Applications and recommendations had to be written. Communication with the institutions of higher learning in which our students were interested had to be established. Our curriculum requirements,
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Fifty Years German School
student preparation and school philosophy were foreign to most American institutions. As a Fulbright Fellowship recipient, graduate student at the University of Heidelberg and Teaching Assistant at Heidelberg0s Helmholtz Gymnasium, little did I imagine that those experiences would play a significant role many years later. Knowledge of the German educational system, fluency in German and a master0s degree in Guidance & Counseling combined with years of teaching and counseling experience proved to be the right qualifications for the task I undertook. A Counseling and Guidance program was designed based upon the needs of the students and school community. Once accepted by the Director and the Vorstand, the program was ready to be implemented. That process was not always easy. Klassenlehrer had to be convinced that a counselor could be a helpmate and resource to them in working through various social and learning problems in their classes. Orientation programs were designed for faculty and parents. I went to every Klassenabend, taking that
