German 4, 5 eliminated next year

liza COOPER

When Richie Tienter, senior, was in elementary school, he had a foreign exchange student from Germany live with his family for a month.

Through the exchange student, Tienter learned about German culture, which inspired him to sign up for German classes in middle school.

Now, Tienter is in AP German Language Culture after taking four previous years of German classes.

“It’s nice to be able to sit back and take pride in the fact that I know how to speak in another language,” Tienter said.

But in recent years, the number of students interested in German has declined, so much so that the district cut German programs at the middle school level.

And now, Frau Kimberly Hotze, German teacher, is retiring this year. Hotze has taught German at MHS since it opened in 1993 and is the only remaining original teacher.

“It was truly one of the hardest decisions to make because I love teaching,” she said.

Many students, including Tienter, harbor concerns that the end of Hotze’s teaching career will also bring the end of the German program.

For now, German will not be completely eliminated next year, but the structure of the program will look different, Associate Principal Dr. Tracey

Waeckerle said. German 4 and 5 will no longer be offered and German 1, 2 and 3 will be taught by Tim Abney, Latin teacher.

This decision was based on scheduling, decreased enrollment in the program and the fact that Abney also teaches another language, Dr. Waeckerle said.

“It comes down to allowing, if the numbers support this, kids to finish their two years of a language,” Dr. Waeckerle said. “This is obviously important because for kids that are college bound. Two years of a language is usually a requirement.”

This year, Hotze taught all five levels. Abney also taught a few sections to help Hotze with her full course load.

Junior Greta Woitach, president of the German Club, is concerned about the program’s future.

“It’s going to impact us a lot,” Woitach said. “It’s going to be detrimental for all the kids that need the language credit and just want to learn the language.”