George Padaroff: A Teacher Remembers: DSW, 1968-1996

A Teacher Remembers: DSW, 1968-1996 A Study in Trials and Tribulations, Joy and Great Satisfaction

George Padaroff

Trial: a source of vexation or annoyance Tribulation: a trying experience Joy: a source or cause of delight Satisfaction: a source or means of contentment: GRATIFICATION

-Webster s Dictionary

When I joined the German School Washington (DSW) in 1968, it was located on Logan Drive, and the English Department con- sisted of two teachers, Mrs. Lillian Hagedorn for the elementary classes, and myself for the classes from George Padaroff between 5th through 9th Grades. classes at the Chateau Drive My predecessor, Mr. Far- campus in 1990. quhar consented to stay on to teach the newly added 10th Grade, but only for that one year. Locally hired faculty never had tenure, all were on a one-year contract with a ten-month salary with no other benefits, but the expectation was that if satisfied, the Board of Directors would renew the contracts for further years, one year at a time. That never changed in all my years there, but the Board slowly over time improved their remuneration policies, transferred over into participation in U.S. Social Security requirements, and eventually put together an employee health plan as well as a retirement plan. But all that was to come later so that a teacher working at the school could feel secure in having a good job there. In 1968, the school was in its seventh year of existence, but had already come a long way to the campus on Logan Drive in that short time. However, the facility was lacking in many ways, from the non-existence of a library, something on which the Maryland authorities faulted the school over and over again-the school had a few shelves of books in the faculty room serve as the school library, but the authorities found this unacceptable - to the inadequacy of laboratory accommodations for the sciences, and the minimal provisions available for physical education! There was a sort of exercise room Sporthalle, one sort of to which we referred as science room, a faculty a gym or room or Lehrerzimmer, an office for the Director and one just outside of it for the office head/administrator and two secretaries, and a number of classrooms, some smaller, some larger to serve both the elementary and secondary classes of the school all under the same roof. Worst of all was that there were no changing rooms for children to have physical education class (Sport), and the pupils were forced to change in the toilet rooms. To its credit, the facilities did have a good heating/air-conditioning system, and in general, we managed quite nicely. We were in the growing stages and not only did we have to prove to the German authorities that we were doing well in teaching, but we had to establish ourselves as an American school as well, and had very much to deal with the Maryland school authorities, who found fault over and over again with what we were able to show in our school facilities, but we were applauded over and over again in our academic accomplishment. We also felt sure that in time, we would be able to build a better school plant either by re-building what we had or just getting an entirely new location. What we had was taken to be temporary.

George Padaroff (second from right) at Penn State in 1952

Teaching a senior English class at the Logan Drive campus The German School on Logan Drive in Potomac, Maryland

The Director at that time, Eric Kleinschmidt, was determined to find acceptance from the authorities of both Germany and Maryland, and I was immediately assigned to the development of an English curriculum that would pass muster of both. This was a daunting task as my experience in teaching English in Göttingen (1963-1966) was not what Maryland required, and my teaching in Northwood High School, Silver Spring, MD, (1966-1968) was perhaps far too demanding for German children learning a foreign language. How to manage? Eventually, a design for teaching English in Grades 5 to 10 was found and implemented, and it had the potential of adding on with Grades 11-13 when they would occur. We used American textbooks. The huge requirement was for the teacher to be patient, demanding, but not too demanding, understanding, willing to accept a lesser requirement of his pupils for their beginning two years, but not so lenient with pupils who had already been there longer! No German was to be spoken in classes; expectations were that the children should do their very best speaking English at all times in class. Translations were absolutely not in the picture at all. Each child was to do his best at his personal potential. Surprisingly, the teacher facing such a multi-facetted class in achievement found great strides made by his pupils, and the learning of English at the German School proceeded with great successes. However, credit must be given where it is due-the German School pupils applied themselves diligently, obviously enjoyed learning English, and wanted so very much to do well. With the adding of more Gymasium classes, more teachers were necessary, and Ms. Magrill and Ms. Nikiforov joined Mrs. Hagedorn and me in making up the English Department. A proud moment for us all came in the accomplishments of first 10th Grade, and then when it was time, the Abitur, in the oral testing, mündliche Prüfungen, conducted by the German authority sent over from Germany. The pupils did extraordinarily well in English. There were many Abi examinations with fantastically good results, one of which I shall relate here. One boy, having arrived at the DSW in the middle of the 11th Grade was handicapped in his first weeks, but he applied himself. Throughout the 12th and 13th Grades, he got better and better. Finally, he was to be orally examined at the end of the 13th grade for the Abitur. He was given two sixteenth-century English sonnets, untitled, very similar in style and subject matter, and in appearance on his paper, much like a two-stanza poem by one poet. It was a bit of a deception, but it was designed to bring about a good outcome. The boy read it out loud beautifully, with clear pronunciation of each word, and with the right emphases on words and syntax. He then did a perfect analysis of the two love stanzas. When asked who just might have been the they were in sonnet poet, he didn t hesitate, but said form and, though very similar, a sonnet was in itself a poem, and he suspected that they were really two separate sonnets and not one poem of two stanzas. He correctly identified one as having the style of sonnets he knew by Sir Phillip Sydney, but was unsure whether he had written the other. The other was written by no other than Queen Elizabeth I and very much in that same style. Needless to say, this boy received a 1 for English received praise his performance. Teachers of over and over again for the excellent performances of Abitur classes.

In my twenty-eight years at the German School, not one student ever failed English in the Abitur. Some did not do so well as others, but all did a satisfactory or

better performance both in writing and orally, and without exception, the German authority who came to administer the testing was highly impressed with what all the pupils accomplished. It was a good curriculum, followed exceptionally well by an efficient and understanding cadre of English teachers, most all of whom were American. What is so very satisfying in our later years is to have those pupils, now all grown-up and out in the world, contacting their former English teachers and telling them how exciting their classes were and how very much they liked learning English, that they gained a fine knowledge of the language that prepared them well for jobs demanding the language, and simply enough for their own enjoyment in reading English books and publications. Their gratitude as expressed through FACEBOOK and other means is extremely gratifying to all their former teachers.

With the construction of the fine campus on Chateau Drive, the school seemed much to expand with a far larger pupil enrollment, and a great many additional teachers. The facilities were superb, with pleasant and large classrooms, science labs, tape recording classrooms converted set to up to be language labs computer classrooms, that and later were an actual school library designed for the pupils. There was a cafeteria, too, and although it was not manned by a permanent staff, it afforded the organization of mothers to put out a meal several days in the week, simply, one-dish, but tasty and welcome to all. Wall-to-wall carpeting was luxurious, and the indoor swimming pool and the physical education facilities were so very welcome to all the pupils who ALWAYS loved their Sport classes. The Americans hired as Physical Education staff introduced the American competitive spirit, and eventually organized team participations intramurally with other schools, something enthusiastic for the pupils.

An official photo taken of the newly completed indoor swimming pool at the Chateau Drive campus (1975).

Next to Ursula Pfeil (left) and Susanne Asser, Mr. Padaroff fulfillls his Pausenaufsicht (1981) and heads for class (1990) at the Chateau Drive school.

But, like the two-edged sword so often cited, the good cutting edge was accompanied by the bad. The school s complexity caused problems. The addition of more local teachers, quite a few of them women, had even earlier resulted in discontent which slowly but surely had been addressed by the Board of Directors. The locally hired teachers had elected me to represent them, but teacher representatives could only obtain a hearing with that the Board the Board, and only suggest and hope members would be magnanimous, and so they had been. Early attempts at obtaining improvements were successful and the school did mirror in its pay scale the salaries that were paid by Montgomery County, did put into place a group health insurance plan, and was establishing a retirement plan. But with the new school on Chateau Drive, the Administration often engaged in questionable practices in meting out class assignments and hours, not necessarily with those who came from Germany, but with those hired locally. Each locally hired teacher never knew what would come his way in the next school year. Salaries could change with hour reductions that were determined by class assignments. Some were not renewed and some full-time teachers often were reduced to part-time positions arbitrarily. Some were assigned to classes for which they felt unprepared. Faculty discontent increased.

But malcontent was not limited to the locally hired. At the close of the three years of their tour of duty, two German-assigned teachers, one in the Gymnasium and the other in the Elementary School, wished to extend. Their pupils liked them, the parents liked them, and the faculty liked them. Their work was excellent. Nothing in their records was in any way negative. But Director and Board of Directors denied them their extension. The faculty was unable to see any justification for this decision and requests for explanation were denied.

Both teachers returned to Germany with their families at the end of the school year. All in the faculty were saddened by this loss to the school, for both teachers had been well integrated. The teacher representatives felt helpless, rebuffed in their attempts to intermediate, at the minimum. As matters stood, both the Board of Directors -- our employer -- and the Director were not answerable to the faculty for any decisions that they made. All the teachers felt that their hands were tied, that they had no protections against any possible injustices that might be done, and that they had no possibility of appeal. They found this to be intolerable. And thus, American the Teachers Association law provided the movement began. possibility for employees/teachers to elect into a labor negotiating organization having a firm standing with the employer. The faculty chose this route of action.

The school continued uninterrupted; classes were taught, exams were written, excursions Ausflüge took place, but there was much tension in the faculty room with the Administration and the Board of Directors refusing to recognize a Teachers employer took the stand that this was Association. The a German School and such an association could not be tolerated, as it is something foreign to German education. What they disregarded was that the German School was registered

George Padaroff casts an historic ballot for the establishment of the Employees' Association of the German School as Peter Zahn and Karl-Ernst Sang monitor the vote. The headline in the 1979/1980 Yearbook reads: "With an overwhelming majority, the teachers decide to establish a union."

The Class 8B with their Klassenlehrer, Mr. Pardaroff (1986)

taught, exams were written, excursions Ausflüge took place, but there was much tension in the faculty room with the Administration and the Board of Directors refusing to recognize a Teachers employer took the stand that this was Association. The a German School and such an association could not be tolerated, as it is something foreign to German education. What they disregarded was that the German School was registered in the state of Maryland as an American school of education, and though it had financial support and even some direction by the German government, it was responsible to adhere to American laws and school regulations. It was, indeed, unfortunate, indeed even painful, that the teachers were forced to bring a suit against the school before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) in their attempt to be recognized as a negotiating body with the school. Surprisingly, the German position. Embassy chose not The Embassy wrote a to defend letter to the the school s Court stating that the German School was not a segment of the diplomatic mission, of great interest to the German government, but in no way was to be considered to have diplomatic immunity. After a long wait, the decision rendered was in favor of the teachers and the Board of Directors and Administration were now forced to recognize the Teacher s Association as a negotiating agent. A teachers contract was now required between faculty and Board, and policy was to be outlined therein, agreeable to both sides through serious negotiations.

This was a difficult time! Opinions varied among the teachers as to just how to proceed. As the chosen leader of the full faculty, I had proceeded with the NLRB court trial, spending nine entire days there, and three of those in the witness stand to be grilled by Mr. Heidenberger, attorney for the school, and cross-examined by our attorney, Mr. Katz. I found myself to be persona non grata over and over again. A good many parents who previously greeted me with smiles no longer did so, but simply walked by me without an acknowledgement. I did not dare ever appear alone in the Director s office, but had to make sure that I brought a witness to anything that transpired between us. And, sad to say, some members of the faculty were disloyal, betraying the association on occasion after occasion by carrying tales to Director and to the Board of Directors. Tension in the faculty room was enormous. We were obligated to put together a contract and it was of extreme importance to do it carefully as what would finally go into effect would be difficult to change in future years. Neither side truly knew just how to construct such a document. The Board looked to legal assistance. I was advised to try to emulate the Teachers Contract of the Montgomery County Teachers Association, which was a good one, workable in those schools. I drew up such a contract, asking for quite a bit, but I was prepared to back down and compromise in our negotiations on certain items, hoping to reach middle ground. But this was behavior unknown to teachers from Germany, and they had difficulty understanding this tactic, thought that the proposals were outrageous, would not support them, and voted me out of office. I had had years of very nice relations with my colleagues and now found myself at odds with a good many of them. It was an unpleasant time. But time heals and things improved. The ensuing contract was not an absolute win for the teachers, but some things were better controlled. Despite persona my fall from grace, I truly was not considered non grata by my colleagues and regained their full respect.

Students assemble in the newly completed Aula in 1971

Mr. Heidenberger asked me when on the witness stand during the NLRB Court proceeding, If you find so much fault with the German School, why do you stay on? My answer was, Because very much is good at the school, and what was not, could be bettered for everyone concerned and thus could be made even finer a school. What especially pleased me, as a teacher there, was that academically, I was given free rein to teach as I saw fit so long as I achieved results. This was not so in the American school system. Teachers there were required to teach as supervisors devised and could not deviate one bit. At the German School, I could coincided with the subject matter, and tell stories that my pupils enjoyed them so. After all, I was telling them in English! And they understood them! I could sing songs that also held grammar lessons, and it was fun! I could have spelling rounds where the pupil who couldn pay a forfeit-the class determined t spell a word would the forfeit, and most often it was something hilarious! And, I could teach public speaking, and just how to write research papers. schooling, Both of these were and I was faced with not part of my own learning them when I finally had arrived at university-such a disadvantage. I wanted my pupils to have this advantage when they began their university studies. Nowhere in other classes were these taught in the school, but I was not prevented from doing them in English. How very gratifying it was for me to recently receive a published doctoral dissertation from one of my pupils, Dr. Tamara Treichel, who earned her Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Heidelberg with Probable -Herman her dissertation, And So Hell s Melville s Moby Dick and Pierre As

George Padaroff correcting papers with an Evil Spirit hovering over him, in a student-made photograph before the age of digital images and Photoshop®. Descent Narratives. She mentions me in her "Acknowledgements," in third place, directly after her two doctoral advisors, saying that in the 11th Grade, I had introduced her to the novel Moby Dick and to Captain Ahab and his quarter-deck, adding that . . to it all. pages . this is There of the key are 235 exciting reading there, the perfect research paper. One could not find a finer scholar anywhere. And it is written in the most eloquent English, far beyond what I had ever expected of my pupils, although Tamara was really tops already Clearly it was in the 11th Grade. Why did for the joy and satisfaction of I stay on? the many years in dealing with the extraordinary kind of young people my pupils were, and in dealing with them in ways that I thought to be effective and which proved over time to be so.

In all my twenty-eight years, I can only admit to three pupils who proved to be difficult. The first was in my early years--a boy who was brought to Washington by his family from what I thought was a boarding school in Germany. His sister had been enrolled at our school already for several years, a nice girl and a good pupil. It was not a boarding school! The boy was mentally dis- turbed, and this information was withheld from the school and the teachers. He was constantly angry with me and not a thing I did met with his approbation. Sadly, I learned that after he left the school, he was institutionalized again. The second was a young fellow in the 9th Grade who had been a holy terror in all his grades before he came to me. Of course, he tried to be the same with me! It took a bit of doing, but when he finally saw that I was trying to make a good pupil of him, that I was recognizing his good qualities, he relented and eventually we became friends. The third was a girl in one of my 11th Grade classes, completely rebellious, who resented me handed out her because I couldn t take it when she insults, or so she claimed. I tried everything, but the girl refused to do any work at all for class or for her exams. She was the ONLY child I ever failed in English, and I have deep regrets about that. The failing grade was no indication of what she could possibly do--it was just that she had done nothing. With her I failed as a teacher! But the hundreds of others over the years I can only remember with deep fondness, for they made life at the German School a real joy.

We teachers were given free rein, within certain parameters. An evaluation of a lesson (Hospitation) was done by the Director periodically, but we English teachers all met with his approval. One Director did try to influence the curriculum by suggesting that all 36 of the Shakespeare plays be taught in the school! We thought we were doing well with four: Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, and eventually Macbeth. Imagine subjecting German students with English as a foreign language to so much of Elizabethan English! The same Director, completely taken with the writings of C.S. Forester, suggested that in the 13th Grade, we do

all fourteen books of the Hornblower Saga, some of which in themselves were divided into two, three, and four separate volumes. Where was the time to do so much? Fortunately, we were not required, nor forced to accept the Director s suggestions. We were in control of what we did, so long as we could show results. And that was a definite PLUS at the German School. We did have to follow the established rules of doing six exams (Klassenarbeiten) in the school year, keeping the records, entering grades, and, if we were homeroom teachers (Klassenlehrer), doing all that was required in that capacity, including the writing out of the report cards (Zeugnisse). We had to do three supervisory duties (Aufsicht), and signed up for the ones we wanted on a first come, attendance at any first and served basis. all conferences And, of course, was required. In free hours, we were not required to stay in the school, which was a nice perk.

Finally, what was it like to be an American and teach at the German School? There were some ups and some downs. Not often, but on occasion we were somewhat painfully made to feel like second-class people, that as teachers, we were okay but our pedagogical preparations were not of the caliber of what the German teachers had received. And sadly, on three different occasions when I was singled out for praise by the visiting German authority for having done some good work, I was only congratulated by one of my German colleagues and the Director. The others passed me by in silence. No notice taken! We very often had to suffer some sharp criticisms of American laws, politics, culture, and social customs, criticisms that were indicative of an unexplainable arrogance, the folly of which came at a later date when a good many of these very things were found to have been adopted in Germany itself. Typical of this mind-set is the so-called colleague compliment who approved paid to me of me, when by a German he told me that he did not think of me as an American, that I was thoroughly European. But, ironically, we were well received socially, could say that we made many friends, and that our German colleagues accepted us as such. We were invited to events and private parties of colleagues, of parents, of members of the Board of Directors and were always included in invitations from the German Embassy. And there were many kindnesses shown to us. When my father died, the Director told me to take as long as I needed to settle his affairs in the state of Illinois. When my mother had been hospitalized with a stroke, the Director told me to go to Pennsylvania immediately and stay just as long as I felt it to be necessary. When Ms. Magrill needed to have an operation the end of April and wanted it done by a specialist in her home city of Nashville, TN, the Director gave her leave and she was not required to return to finish out the year. And when I was diagnosed with a serious health problem, the Director told me not to worry, that he would arrange with the Board of Directors to give me all the leave that would be necessary in handling the problem. Behind all of these was leave with no loss of pay. indeed, there was great heart shown at the So, yes, German School. I joined the faculty of the school when it was just seven years in operation. When I left the school, it had been in existence for thirty-five years. And now, the school will celebrate a 50th anniversary. What has been in the past fifteen years at the school I would hope has all been good. The school has expanded even further with an elementary school on the Chateau Drive address, and a new science wing as well. It is a positive sign to me that Dr. Peter Dreher has stayed on all these years, and has gained such a following among his pupils. It shows that things cannot be all that bad at the school, and I would like to think that nothing is bad at the school. One thing is for certain: The children there as pupils are surely still a joy to teach, giving any teacher much satisfaction. I wish them and the school well.

George Padaroff at a DSW high-school graduation reception with guests, Dan Conrad (left), English teacher Eileen Plumb, and Dan Plumb (1987).