Modern Germany Update - Fall/Winter 2018

FALL/WINTER

2018

Education. Dialogue. Experience. Germany.

TOP

TRANSATLANTIC OUTREACH PROGRAM

A PUBLIC / PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP

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MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

High above the mountains of Monument Valley, the German slackline group “One Inch Dreams” attempted to set the world record for distance walked between two hot air balloons—one featuring the German flag and the other the American flag. Credit: WunderbarTogether

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TOP

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

© Goethe-Institut / Mike Morgan

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TRANSATLANTIC OUTREACH PROGRAM

Greetings from TOP

Contact TOP

Welcome to our first Modern Germany Update newsletter to be published during the “Wunderbar Together” (Wonderful Together) Year of German American Friendship!

With over 1000 events taking place from sea to shining sea, #WunderbarTogether - similar to the TOP program itself - represents a substantial investment of the German people in the United States. This initiative, designed to celebrate the grassroots bonds that have served as the foundation of transatlantic peace and economic prosperity for over 70 years, reminds us that these bonds must be cultivated to flourish. (www.wunderbartogether.org) Just recently the results of a survey conducted by the Pew Research Center indicate that efforts like TOP and WunderbarTogether are having an effect: some 70% of Americans feel that relations today between the U.S. and Germany are good. But the survey sadly doesn’t end there: it also indicates that a staggering 73% of Germans feel that relations between the U.S. and Germany are bad.

What are we to do with these incongruous results?

I would implore those reading this newsletter - those who are committed to the belief that walls of the mind can only be broken by education, dialogue, and experience - to take the gift of the WunderbarTogether campaign - to take

Online:

the gift of TOP - and to pay it forward in your own way. With our German friends and counterparts as your focus: commit to ProgressTogether!

I would argue that many of you – as TOP Alumni – are already committed to ProgressTogether: you are using TOP lessons in your classrooms, leading professional development workshops, and conducting virtual- and pen pal-exchanges with your German counterparts. Some of you are joining

www.goethe.de/top @TOPteachGermany

By email: top@washington.goethe.org

By phone: 202-847-4700

By postal mail: the Bosch Alumni Network (www. boschalumni.net), our latest and most exclusive opportunity for TOP Alumni.

And some of you are even turning it “up to eleven” by starting a GAPP exchange (p. 31) in your school! None of these is a small act. In fact, all of us at TOP remain inspired by your actions as transatlantic ambassadors in the classroom.

Over ten months remain in theYear of German American Friendship. There is plenty of time to be WunderbarTogether and to ProgressTogether. On behalf of Jenny, Jan, Lisa, and the entire TOP Team, I thank you for reading, and I look forward to all the exciting ways you will bring the world into your classroom in 2019.

- Wood Powell, Managing Director

Transatlantic Outreach Program Goethe-Institut Washington 1990 K Street NW, Suite 03 Washington, DC 20006

The TOP Team: Wood Powell, Managing Director Jenny Windell, Program Manager Jan Marie Steele, Education Coordinator Lisa Nicolaus, Coordinator, Education Projects Project Manager, Corporate Sponsorship / Institutional Giving

Photo by Wood Powell

In this issue...

4 Greetings from the TOP Team 25 TOP Alumni Mini-Grants 34 2018 TOP Fellow of the Year Announcement Wunderbar Together 7 We are Wunderbar Together 8 Wunderbar Together Events Roadmap

Study Tours: 17 2018 Flipgrid Challenge 28 TOP Study Tour Recaps

30 TOP Guide Spotlight

32 2018 TOP Fellows 35 TOP Study Tour FAQ

German Art and Architecture at an Atlanta Street Festival October 5th, 2018.

Photo by: Donna Permell

TOP in the Classroom 15 Alumni Contribution by Ellie Reich 16 Alumni Contribution by Kirstin Bullington 18 New Technologies Facilitate Virtual Exchanges Alumni Contribution by Darcey Brooten

Alumni Contribution

by Jason Buelterman

23 Never Gnome Alone

Alumni Contribution

by Evan Chapman

10 Wunderbar Together Kick off Events 12 Wunderbar Together Upcoming Events 14 Discover Bauhaus

26 Stasi Breakout Lesson Plan

Alumni Contribution

by Derek Frieling

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21 Making Student Exchanges a Reality

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Education. Dialogue.

Experience. Germany.

The Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP) provides North American social studies and STEM educators, as well as workforce decision makers, with teaching materials, workshops, virtual exchanges, and study tours. These bring North Americans and Germans together to enhance the global competence of students, to bridge the “skills gap� between education and workforce development, and

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

to strengthen the grassroots bonds of the transatlantic partnership.

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Teaching Materials

Study Tours

TOP produces free K-12 teaching materials on contemporary Germany, which foster global competence and are aligned to content standards for easy adoption into classroom instruction.

TOP organizes fully funded study tours for over 100 educators each year, allowing them to experience contemporary Germany in person. Study tour groups investigate topics such as the German education system, career education, refugee integration, collective memory, and energy transition. Participants return from Germany to author new curriculum and lead their own workshops.

Workshops TOP supports its network of over 1,600 Alumni, who lead professional development workshops and facilitate dialogue about contemporary Germany in their schools and districts in all 50 U.S. states and Canada.

Career Pathways TOP provides information about German career education, including apprenticeship, to workforce decision makers and opinion leaders as well as technical and community college educators.

THE SCOPE OF Wunderbar Together § Wunderbar Together will leverage a vast network of more than 200 partners to hold events in all 50 states between now and late 2019. § In total, Wunderbar Together will host more than 1,000 events. These will highlight all aspects of society: business, politics, education, culture, science, civil society, and sports. § Opening events took place on October 3rd in six locations: Washington, D.C., Boston, Atlanta, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Monument Valley

Wunderbar Together From October 2018 until late 2019, Germany will celebrate its close friendship to the U.S. through the Year of German-American Friendship, or Deutschlandjahr. This theme of “Wunderbar Together” highlights the strong relationship between our two counties, which is rooted in deep historical ties and shared culture.

“Wunderbar Together” means the U.S. and Germany are better as friends. Our partnership has made both countries stronger over time and will continue to shape our futures.

This initiative is an opportunity to renew and preserve our friendship and to develop a new shared perspective on important issues.

Together, our countries can tackle global challenges through a renewed focus on dialogue and cooperation.

People are at the heart of the U.S.-German relationship, and at the heart of the Deutschlandjahr. This celebration will bring together more than 200 partners across all 50 states, who will host more than 1,000 events in local communities.

The Deutschlandjahr is Germany’s tradition of highlighting its global relationships with different host countries through dialogue and exchange. These celebrations have been held in various countries, including Japan, China, India, Russia, Brazil, and Mexico.

§ The first Deutschlandjahr was held in 2005, and there have been more than 40 similar initiatives – ranging from a full year to several weeks – in countries such as Mexico, Brazil, Vietnam, India, and China.

Instagram

Twitter

Website

@wunderbartogether #WunderbarTogether

@wunderbar2gethr #WunderbarTogether

wunderbartogether.org

Credit: Nicole Glass & Flying Steps

Credit: Marcus Sporkmann

Ways to Get Involved § Follow and like us on Twitter and Instagram! § Tell us about your German-American experience by submitting a story on our website! [There’s a link on our homepage]

Funded by

Implemented by

Supported by

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

About

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Wies’n in a Box: South by Southwest, Austin, Texas* Kentucky Derby, Louisville, Kentucky* Deutschlandwoche, Daley Plaza, Chicaco, Illinois*

* Tentative locations

WanderbUS: Alexandria, VA Washington, DC Whitehall, PA Washington, PA Mechanicsville, VA Chapel Hill, NC Gastonia, NC Knoxville, TN Spartanburg, SC Lexington, SC Gainesville, GA Marietta, GA

Winter Park, FL Bartow, FL Tuscaloosa, AL Oxford, MS Baton Rouge, LA Katy, TX Boerne, TX Fort Worth, TX Guthrie, OK Albuquerque, NM Tempe, AZ Las Vegas, NV Claremont, CA Palo Alto, CA

Pleasant Hill, CA Boise, ID Eugene, OR Walla Walla, WA Helena, MT American Fork, UT Laramie, WY Fort Collins, CO Rapid City, SD Grand Forks, ND Duluth, MN St. Paul, MN Cedar Rapids, IA Bellevue, NE

Providence, RI Wilton, CT Cherry Hill, NJ Hockessin, DE Romney, WV Glen Burnie, MD

Bauhaus Tour: Raleigh (NC) Houston (TX) Chicago (IL) Seattle (WA) Los Angeles (CA) San Francisco (CA)

GoetheInstitut: Atlanta, GA Boston, MA Chicago, IL Los Angeles, CA San Francisco, CA Washington, DC

GoetheInstitut Pop-Up: Houston, TX Kansas City, MO Minneapolis, MN Seattle, WA

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Olathe, KS Springdale, AR Chesterfield, MO Lexington, KY Cincinnati, OH Darien, IL Milwaukee, WI Crown Point, IN Commerce, MI Webster, NY Middlebury, VT Peterborough, NH Readfield, ME North Andover, MA

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German Art and Architecture at an Atlanta Street Festival October 5th, 2018.

Photo by: Donna Permell

Wunderbar Together Kick Off Events Meet-a-German Fulbright October 3

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

On October 3rd, the Day of German Unity, Germans currently living in the U.S. and Americans who have previously lived in Germany (such as grantees and alumni of Fulbright Germany) visited schools across the U.S. as citizen ambassadors for the event “Meet-a-German”: Teaching Assistants as Citizen Ambassadors – Turning Nations Into Pupils.

This experience was hosted in 150 schools across the US and offered a fun and interactive way to connect with German culture. Events were designed to spark interest in Germany, while giving 170 Fulbrighters the opportunity to share their intercultural experiences with the local communities. #fulbrightgermany #meetagerman #wunderbartogether Meet a German Info: www.fulbright.de/news/events/ event/meet-a-german

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German Art and Architecture at an Atlanta Street Festival October 5 – Atlanta, GA On October 5, Atlanta hosted a uniquely German street party with authentic German food, hip-hop music, dance performances, and a luminous light-art show projected onto the Atlanta-Fulton Central Library, the last structure designed

by Bauhaus-movement architect Marcel Breuer. At the event, Germany-based artist collective URBANSCREEN produced a light-art show, titled “Superposition,” that explored the German-American relationship by integrating architecture, digital art, dance, and hip-hop music from Atlanta’s thriving music scene. A mobile mini Oktoberfest, Wiesn in a Box, offered Hofbräu beer and fresh pretzels in its first of many stops along a nationwide tour.

Award-Winning Break Dancing on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial October 4 – Washington, DC On October 4, four-time break dance world champions Flying Steps performed to the music of German classical composer Johann Sebastian Bach on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. Through their performance, the Flying Steps bridged classical and urban culture by pairing breakdancing with elegant classical music. Through this, the group also hoped to form a bridge between the American and German people. www.flyingsteps.com

Award-Winning Break Dancing on the Steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Credit: Nicole Glass & Flying Steps

10th Annual German-American Conference

A World Record Slackline Above the American Desert

October 4-7 – Boston, MA

October – Monument Valley

The 10th German-American Conference at Harvard brought together more than 700 leaders from business, politics, academia and media to discuss the most pressing issues in the transatlantic relationship. This conference involved more than 50 speakers and was set to inspire leadership, foster dialogue, and promote innovation. Speakers included Ambassador of Germany to the United States Emily Haber, WZB - Berlin Social Science Center President Jutta Allmendinger, Siemens Digital Factory Division President Raj Batra, Google Deputy Head of Global Trade Policy Nicholas Bramble, as well as leaders from German Federal Foreign Office, USAID, the United Nations, and the German Parliament.

High above the mountains of Monument Valley, the German slackline group “One Inch Dreams” attempted to set the world record for distance walked between two hot air balloons—one featuring the German flag and the other the American flag. The event was both visually stunning and symbolic, featuring German athletes performing over one of America’s most scenic panoramas. Among the slackliners participating in this event was Alexander Schulz, who currently holds world records for longest (217m) and highest (247m) urban highline in Mexico City, Mexico and the longest (610m) slackline in inner Mongolia, China.

Performing this feat above the American desert tested new limits for even these experienced slackliners. Every detail, from the design and manufacturing of the balloons to weather and wind conditions, had to be meticulously anticipated to ensure success. www.oneinchdreams.com

Electronic Music Festival October 5-6 – Los Angeles, CA On October 5-6, concertgoers had an opportunity to experience the best of the German electronic music scene in Los Angeles for a celebration of collaboration and music.

The two-night festival took place at two of LA’s top venues, Echo+Echoplex and the Globe Theatre. FROM GERMANY TO LA presented a once-in-a-lifetime celebration of music paired with a stunning visual show and a diverse lineup of 17 DJs – including Tensnake, DJ Koze, and Mouse on Mars – and performers from Germany and Los Angeles. The unforgettable visual support included a unique LA-meetsBerlin blend of 3D-mapping delivered by CLOAKING and projections by German artists Lisa Wassmann and Valquire Veljkovic.

German-American Heritage at a Midwestern Volksfest October 6-7 – Indianapolis, IN German-American Heritage at a Midwestern Volksfest in Indianapolis, October, 2018.

Credit: WunderbarTogether MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

The German “Volksfest” came to Indianapolis for a two-day celebration of German culture. On October 6, a festival took place at Monument Circle and the Athenaeum “Das Deutsche Haus.” The festival included exciting cultural exhibits and exploration of German historical settlement in the Midwest, live classical music, and a delegation from the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. In the evening, Germany-based artist collective URBANSCREEN projected a light-art show against the Athenaeum. The following day, the celebration continued with a German classic car show and a German-themed public parade.

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“Wiesn in a Box” mobile beer gardens are touring the United States for a year.

Photo by: Donna Permell

Wunderbar Together UPCOMING Events

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Wiesn in a Box (Traveling Oktoberfest)

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One thing Americans know and love about Germany is Oktoberfest. Since October 3, 2018, three “Wiesn in a Box” mobile beer gardens are touring across the United States for a year as part of the Wunderbar Together festival. These attractively designed food-truck style trailers will be towed across the country, serving guests oven-hot pretzels and a cold Hofbräu draft beer.

The trucks are designed in the Bauhaus style, depicting snowtipped Alps along the handmade wooden sides.

The festivities began in Atlanta. Follow these delightfully jolly traveling beer trucks on Instagram (@wiesinabox) as they bring folk music, good cheer, and of course, delicious Bavarian beer, to a town near you! www.goethe.de/wiesn

Wunderbar: Year of German Film

Credit: Goethe-Institut

“Wunderbar: A Celebration of German Film” offers an easily accessible way for Americans to stream German movies at home. Since October 3, fifty individual films spanning the scope of German cinematic history are free to stream for the American public at kanopy.com/goethe.

From the Weimar Republic to Reunification, modern Germany has undergone enormous political and societal upheaval and change over the last century. It is a complex story of national devastation and tumultuous recovery, and one that has been captured and mediated upon through a century of German film-making. Barbara, A Coffee in Berlin, Metropolis, and Victoria are only a few of the many exciting films that are available.

The Bauhaus School is arguably one of the most significant contributions to art and design in the last century, and its timelessness continues to intrigue the world. Starting in 2019, Bauhaus events and exhibitions will be on display across the U.S. to celebrate and rethink its architectural feats and uniquely iconic design. bauhaus.photo: Starting January 2019 this touring photo exhibition by the Bauhaus-Archiv will feature 100 key works of Bauhaus photography in Raleigh (NC), Houston (TX), Chicago (IL), Seattle (WA), Los Angeles (CA), and San Francisco (CA).

The Whole World a Bauhaus: Opening in February 2019 at the Elmhurst Art Museum (Illinois), this ifa exhibition shows how the Bauhaus redefined the parameters of art, the crafts, and technology. Visitors can explore eight different chapters, each focusing on an aspect of work and life at the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1933. Among these are radical pedagogy, floating, and community.

Discover Design – Discover Bauhaus: From March until October 2019, the Foundation Deutsches Design Museum is offering an interactive workshop for schools and museums. Students will learn key facts about Bauhaus as an evolutionary movement and can let their creativity run wild while producing their own designs. info@deutschesdesignmuseum.de If your institution would like to participate, please get in touch with us through the WunderbarTogether website.

German American Partnership Program (GAPP) The German American Partnership Program will host a reception in Washington, DC for U.S. and German partners to celebrate the over 30-year partnership fostering student exchanges across the Atlantic. The GAAP program offers bright young American and German students at participating high schools the opportunity to interact with each other in their home countries, gaining eye-opening experiences and lifelong friends along the way. www.goethe.de/GAPP

WanderbUS Come and experience the German-American friendship on wheels! The wanderbUS is a bus filled with fun and exciting opportunities to explore what Germany and the U.S. have in common, how you can benefit from learning German, and why Germany is always worth a visit.

The bus will tour the U.S. starting in March of 2019, and it will visit 60 high schools and universities from the beaches of Florida to the forests of the Pacific Northwest, from the Arizona deserts to the Maine coastline. A small team of education professionals will perform entertaining and informative show programs at each stop. www.goethe.de/wanderbus

MINT (STEM) Programs Throughout 2018 and 2019 the Goethe-Institut’ s MINT programs will showcase three events for a series that allows students across the country to engage more directly with science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)!

Land of Inventors Germany (Erfinderland) is an interactive exhibition that focuses on STEM-related innovations that originated in Germany and have changed the world. This hands-on multimedia experience will tour from the fall of 2018 to summer of 2019, and lets students ages 15 to 20 connect with the innovations of Germany. www.goethe.de/erfinderland The Digital Kinderuniversity (digitale Kinderuniversität) introduces students aged 8 - 12 years to the world of science while simultaneously teaching German in a fun and playful way. The Digital Kinderuni will be launched at the Sustainability Conference in Chicago in May 2019, and provide an exciting and easy way for students to take their first steps towards learning the German language. www.goethe.de/usa/kinderuni The Award of Excellence is an annual contest dating back to 1991. Every year a short video portrays some aspect of German life and students complete a quiz on the video. The first phase is a web-based competition that takes place in Mexico, Canada, and the U.S. At the 2019 Goethe Institut’s Sustainability Conference in Chicago, students will compete against each other to determine the 2018 U.S. national champion. bit.ly/1KPLNuk

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Bauhaus Projects (Clustered Overview)

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Be Creative: Discover Design Discover Bauhaus!

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Students love design workshops!

What exactly happens in the workshop?

As a part of the campaign Wunderbar together – Germany and the U.S., the German Design Museum Foundation is offering an interactive workshop/roadshow for schools and museums. Our exciting journey of discovery through the world of design is linked to the celebration of 100 Years of Bauhaus! This provides an opportunity to acquire new knowledge of a shared cultural heritage in a practiceoriented fashion. Why are the ideas of the Bauhaus as a legendary school of architecture, design and art still relevant today? How can we use its ideas for our future? Led by design students, the pupils engage in creative work themselves and design their own model chair — as a design exercise.

Matching posters can also be designed. The workshop concept is modular in structure, and the scheduling can be flexibly adapted.

The design workshop combines intercultural content with imagination and creativity. Trained design students will provide support and advice. During the theoretical section, key facts about Bauhaus as an evolutionary movement, its leading figures, important projects and ideas will be taught.

During the hands on section, the participants can let their creativity run wild and produce their own designs. Duration: one to four hours; the modular structure permits flexible adjustment of the time frame.

When will it take place? Who can participate?

Discover Design - Discover Bauhaus tours from March April and Mid-September - Mid-November 2019. During this period we will travel to schools throughout America, particularly in rural areas. This special program is designed for students aged 14 and up, but can also be planned and implemented for younger age groups. A maximum of 25 students and 1-2 teachers can take part in each workshop.

What are the prerequisites?

For the workshop, a quiet room as well as a sufficient number of chairs and tables are required. We will provide all work and design materials, as well as lesson materials for the teachers, so that the project can also be continued in subsequent lessons.

Interested? Questions?

To bring a workshop to your school, please send us an email with your complete contact details and school location. We are currently planning out tour and we will keep you updated as soon as a location near you has been identified. info@deutschesdesignmuseum.de

Fellow Contribution:

How will you teach your students about Germany differently after your TOP study tour?

By Ellie Reich (TOP 2018) Since it is difficult for a large number of my students to travel internationally I am excited to bring these experiences to them. My students will now be able to stand in front of Karl Marx’s home in Trier, visit the Reichstag without leaving their classroom, and see the beautiful countryside near Asse before telling the students the political and scientific challenges that are present at the very location. This will make learning come alive for my students. These short experiences will also serve as that trigger to engage students in learning more about these topics and how they connect to American History. I am hoping that this experience will also encourage them to travel and expand their global awareness.

One of the additional ways that I am planning to integrate this experience into my classroom is through posing the question of how we remember our past to my students. This will be a question that we will come back to throughout their entire American History course. One of the areas that I will be bringing Germany into this discussion is by presenting the ways that Germany has approached this same question as they dealt with WWII. As a class, students will be taking that knowledge and they will compare it to the United States and how we remember the Civil War. Students will be able to then make suggestions on the ways that our country can move forward while not forgetting the history that has led us to this point.

While I knew that Germany was so much more I didn’t really know how I could make German culture and history come alive for my students.

I am really excited to get back into the classroom and share the knowledge that I have gained and lead my students to become better global citizens. My hope is that by sharing different perspectives and views they will be a generation that will be better equipped to deal with challenges that will face our world in the future. I am forever grateful to TOP and the amazing group of educators that I was able to travel with. I was humbled by the creativity and knowledge that was shared by the group of TOP 1 educators. Our students deserve the best, and I know that there are some incredible teachers who are working to help student understand diversity and appreciate differences. Together we built bridges that will not be torn down, that will help our students achieve a greater understanding of Germany, and through that an ever greater understanding of the United States.

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I was beyond excited when I received the notification in my email that my mail included a very hefty package from TOP what seems like ages ago now. I waited with great anticipation for June to arrive so that I would be able to spend two weeks learning as much as I could about German culture and history. While I fully intended to learn as much as I could, I Ellie Reich is a social studies educator at was not prepared to learn so much about Denmark High School in Denmark, Wisconsin, myself as a teacher in addition to all I had USA. wanted to learn about Germany.

I am a social studies teacher with a focus on civics education and American History. Germany has never been a large focus in my class beyond a brief touch of WWI, coverage of WWII with a focus on the holocaust, and then the Berlin Wall, specifically the fall of the Berlin Wall. While I knew that Germany was so much more I didn’t really know how I could make German culture and history come alive for my students. This trip gave me the inspiration to push aside the mental obstacles that I was facing. I am very grateful to the amazing educators that I had the opportunity to meet and travel with. It was through our reflection sessions that I was inspired to apply the knowledge that I was gaining to my own classes.

The Transatlantic Outreach Program reminded me the importance of global education. It was mentioned time and time again while we visited with partners of the program, teachers, and companies that with the unsettling political situation that was occurring over tariffs at the time of our study tour we cannot leave our futures to the hands of politicians alone. It is vital that we make connections and build bridges between our societies. I learned that while there are differences in our societies, there are more similarities that we can use to draw us closer. I am excited to have the opportunity to bring a group of students from Michelstadt to my high school this year to allow our students to learn from each other. I feel very fortunate to have made a connection with teachers from Michelstadt while we were invited into their homes for dinner. Our hope is that we will be able to keep a relationship between both of our schools.

While on the study tour I took several 360 degree photographs that I will be turning into virtual reality experiences for my school. I was talking with the technology integration specialist for our district before I left on the tour and she will be assisting me with making the images into the VR experiences.

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Fellow Contribution:

How will you teach your students about Germany differently after your TOP study tour?

By Kirstin Bullington (TOP 2018) Before traveling to Germany, I had a preconceived notion of how my students and I would benefit from my TOP study tour: I would learn best practices about the Energiewende to incorporate into my clean energy engineering classes, which would help me facilitate a virtual exchange and collaboration between my students and a class in Germany. In Kirstin Bullington is a Next Energy my mind, I saw Germany as a leader Engineering Instructor in vocational training and clean energy, at the Richland Two Institute of Innovation and thought that my course content in Columbia, South Carolina, USA. would be the most impacted by my tour experiences. I did indeed gain a wealth of information to incorporate into my students’ energy projects, particularly in optimizing biogas and solar tracking, which will help me provide a more complex global engineering context.

However, the greatest lesson I learned from my TOP study tour was the revelation that STEM instruction and outreach can not only be used to prepare students for technical majors and careers, but also as an intentional tool to achieve a more integrated society.

One of my original goals for visiting Germany was to explore the dual education system in greater depth, and determine what best practices my students and district might be able to emulate in terms of apprenticeship and alternative post-secondary options. As a school district, we have begun to seek apprenticeships with local businesses,

organization provides for its apprentices and employees, I believe I am better equipped to help my students make an effective argument towards the advantages of apprenticeships. Moreover, the North American Vocational Training Center for Bosch is located in our state, so my school is planning to organize a field study to introduce that opportunity to interested students as an alternative technical pathway. Another benefit from visiting the Bosch and Trumpf corporations was the confirmation that German companies are also seeking future employees with exceptional soft skills and problem-solving abilities. This is the same message that we are hearing from the industry representatives that serve on our school’s advisory board, so it was helpful to have the notion reinforced that our strategic plan is in line with the needs of global corporations.

... the greatest lesson I learned from my TOP study tour was the revelation that STEM instruction and outreach can not

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only be used to prepare students for

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technical majors and careers, but also as an intentional tool to achieve a more integrated society. who are enthusiastic about the concept, but sometimes struggle to sell the idea to students’ families, as there has been a great deal of emphasis placed on preparing every child for college. After visiting the Bosch Vocational Training Center in Stuttgart, and learning more about the multiple opportunities for advanced training and education that the

TOP 4 2018 Fellows Kirstin Bullington and Kathy Bosiak take part in a robotics activity during their TOP study tour to Germany.

Another way in which lessons from the TOP study tour will impact my students’ perspective of Germany is through a direct exchange of ideas and solutions with an advanced English class from Berlin. I was paired with Ms. Christina Gruhle, an instructor at Heinrich-Schliemann Gymnasium as part of the Going Green initiative, and together we have developed a sustainability lesson plan for this fall to span the entire semester. While the tour prepared me for some of the questions my students will pose when comparing German and American energy policies and practices, they will get an even greater understanding from sharing their discoveries with their German peers, and receiving feedback on their proposed solutions.

TOP Moments:

2018 Flipgrid Challenge 2018 TOP Fellows were invited to share the “TOP Moments” from their study tours to Germany using Flipgrid. Of the many moments shared this summer, these were selected as representative of the TOP study tour experience.

First Place Winner:

Elizabeth Gonzalez C. Douglas Killough High School Lewisville, TX, USA https://youtu.be/IRQJ0d_3RiE Second Place Winners:

Colleen Breen Oley Valley Middle School Oley, PA, USA https://youtu.be/WYDPOUMV848

Ked Kantz Manheim Township High School Lancaster, PA, USA https://youtu.be/cHKalBOhXOE

Alexis Lisenby East Garner Magnet Middle School Garner, NC, USA https://youtu.be/OkaVtLqq2zU

Christine Scoby Shorecrest Preparatory School St Petersburg, FL, USA https://youtu.be/frJFaXjLFZI

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Perhaps the greatest impact the TOP study tour had on my instruction was one that goes beyond the classroom: using STEM outreach as an intentional tool to better integrate communities. In my opinion, one of the greatest strengths of my school is that we serve six different high schools, and as such, our class populations tend to be highly diverse in terms of ethnicity, socioeconomics, and experiences. Projects in Next Energy are all collaborative, and it has been my experience that the best solutions have been generated by heterogeneous groups, as the students have brought different ideas and talents to their respective groups. However, prior to the TOP tour, I never really considered using STEM outreach to intentionally bring that experience of working with diverse groups to help integrate newcomers within our community. An innovation school in Bochum, Zentrum ISD (ZDI), shared that they use robotics and other STEM projects to encourage friendships between native German and newcomer pupils. What they have discovered is similar to what I have witnessed in my own diverse classes: the participants are not only successful in their project outcomes, but more importantly, learn a great deal about each other, which promotes better community integration. When Herr Trimborn of ZDI explained this strategy, I realized that a similar approach could be applied in our STEM outreach activities, as we have a significant number of newcomer families within our district. I have spoken with the district’s innovation incubator director, and we are working together to establish a similar program this fall. If we are successful, we will not only be able to encourage a more diverse population to consider careers in STEM, but also we will contribute to ensuring that all of our students feel welcome and included within the district.

All in all, my experiences on the TOP STEM study tour will have a great impact on the way my students and I perceive Germany, the United States, and each country’s energy policies and practices. More significantly, I have no doubt that the best practices gleaned from German vocational opportunities and STEM outreach strategies will lead to positive changes within our school district. As both Germany and the United States struggle with how to achieve unity within diverse populations, I am grateful for the entire tour experience, as it has inspired me to use STEM as the bridge to a more integrated community.

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New Technologies Facilitate Virtual Exchanges

After her 2017 TOP study tour, third grade teacher Darcey Brooten worked with a teacher she met in Germany to create a virtual exchange between their students using Flipgrid.

By Darcey Brooten (TOP 2017)

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

In today’s interconnected world, student collaboration, communication, and authentic experiences are paramount, and as a third grade teacher, I strive to utilize connectivity and technology to foster global relationships and understanding well beyond the four walls of my classroom. Beginning a few years back, I started actively seeking Darcey Brooten is a teacher at M.T. Bedwell opportunities to connect my students to Elementary School in others in the world around them - first Bernardsville, NJ, USA. within the USA through Pen Pal or Skype connections, and then stretching out globally to educator contacts I made personally. These fellow educators so kindly messaged or Skyped my class during their morning or evening hours because of time zone differences, but we never connected our international students in real time because our school hours did not overlap. While these global conversations were meaningful, authentic, and certainly gave my class a chance to stretch their global understanding, I wanted my students to connect and collaborate face-toface with other STUDENTS around the world in addition to adult friends of mine who so kindly gave up their pre or post school hours. The question was, “How?”

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The students used the online platform Flipgrid to exchange videos.

Enter TOP Study Tour. In 2017, I was selected to travel as a fellow on TOP 4 to Nuremberg, Geisa, Weimar, and Berlin. In addition to learning about modern Germany, I knew that traveling on a TOP Study Tour would open collaborative doors for me among fellow alumni within the United States and Canada. What I did not know was that TOP would be the

catalyst needed to engage my students in authentic face-toface peer interactions globally.

A true highlight of any TOP Study Tour is the first hand exposure to the German education system, and for me, inspiration struck while visiting Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen, an all girls bilingual school in Neumarkt, Germany, not far from Nuremberg. There, I met Veronika Northam and her students - the 8th and 9th graders who acted as our tour guides for the morning. The girls put on skits and performances teaching us about various programs available to the 1,000 or so students within their bilingual school. Later, the girls paired off and took us around the school and very articulately answered all of our questions.

My guides that day were Laura and Lara-Marie, two energetic teenagers who effortlessly captivated the group of American teachers dressed in business formal taking notes and following them around their campus. As I grabbed my bag after the tour finished, I pulled out two handmade cards written by my third grade students in New Jersey as a token of appreciation to Laura and Lara-Marie for their graciousness and hospitality. The cards I gave the girls were covered in colorful elementary-style drawings, maps, flags, symbols, and happy greetings from the USA. These simple cards decorated by my third graders brought a lot of joy and smiles to those I met over the course of my TOP Study Tour, but the reaction that followed from Laura and Lara-Marie at the Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen in Neumarkt was something I never imagined. The excited pair squealed loudly when they saw the cards, and they immediately turned to each other with big smiles on their faces and said, “These are so cute! We must write back!”

Right then and there they rushed to find paper and sat down to respond to the cards I presented to them. They chatted as they wrote and checked in with each other regarding their English and grammar - skills they were currently studying at their bilingual school. Seeing their enthusiasm sparked a light bulb in my head. Even though these students were five years older than mine, I saw the potential for a future relationship between the girls at the Staatliche Realschule

within the Flipgrid portal itself. The site was easy to navigate, the video grids were accessible on all types of devices, and both the creation and viewing of grids is only done through a private code or link. She and her students in Germany were on board!

My third graders in Bernardsville, New Jersey began the Flipgrid video exchange to our new “German Flipgrid Pals.” I launched the exchange with an introductory lesson on Germany and the location of Neumarkt itself. I gave some background of Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen and the twenty 8th graders on the other end of our Flipgrid. We introduced ourselves and told our new friends in Germany how excited we were to both teach and learn from them. The excitement and engagement was through the roof as my students created their first video messages to Germany! I made a video grid myself and said hi to everyone at Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen. As soon as our videos launched, I heard back from Veronika via email stating, “We watched their clips yesterday!! They are adorable. My students are in love.” The virtual exchange between Bernardsville, New Jersey and Neumarkt, Germany had begun!

What happened next was an amazing surprise that I had not considered. Because Veronika’s students were older and

The TOP 4 2018 study tour group visited the Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen in Neumarkt, Germany.

because of the flexible nature of when and how to record a video message on Flipgrid, her German students recorded their introductory videos not from their classroom like we had, but rather her students thoughtfully recorded their videos on portable devices out and about Neumarkt itself. I got chills! By doing this, the girls - our new Big Sisters - truly brought Germany to life for my students. Sure, I had shown my students pictures from my own German travels with TOP, but here were big kids, older kids, real students taking them continued on following page....

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

für Mädchen and my third graders.

Upon returning from my Study Tour, I reached out to Veronika Northam, the teacher contact I made that day in Neumarkt, to gauge her interest in a collaborative exchange between our classes. I pitched it as a way to foster a sort of “Big Sister” relationship between her 8th/9th graders and my 3rd Brooke Schnabolk, a student in Ms. Brooten’s class, graders, where all shows off the letter she received from Germany. students involved would practice their English and presentation skills while learning about each other’s home country and culture.

Veronika was immediately on board, and we threw around ideas such as emailing between classes and possibly doing a Skype call if some of her students wanted to stay late after school let out in Neumarkt. Time zone scheduling still made it difficult, and we hemmed and hawed over the best way to make this exchange meaningful and real for our students. That fall, however, I was invited to check out a new technology called Flipgrid which would later be the springboard for our collaboration.

Flipgrid was first introduced to me as a video platform which increased student engagement by giving all kids a voice and allowed for video responses as opposed to standard written responses. It was demoed to me by a teacher who had her students respond to an in-class prompt. Each student responded to the question, and, in real time, their video popped up on the screen for others to view, listen to, or respond to, depending on the parameters the teacher had set up. My heart skipped a beat. Instantly, I saw the collaborative potential of this powerful platform not just within the classroom as I had seen in the demo, but rather the potential to use Flipgrid beyond the walls of a classroom and spark dialogues across the world. I envisioned students communicating “face-to-face” without the need to be live! The global time zone dilemma that had been wracking my brain now had a solution! Flipgrid would be the perfect collaborative tech tool for our international digital exchange!

I reached out to Veronika in Neumarkt and told her all about it. I described the ease, flexibility, and privacy options

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Students at the Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen show off the cards they received from Ms. Brooten’s student, Brooke Schnabolk.

on a tour of their German hometown and speaking directly to them. Talk about meaningful and authentic learning!

When we watched the video messages from Veronika Northam’s class, my students excitedly started calling out

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

I could go on and on. Real, authentic learning about 21st century Germany had entered my classroom.

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things like, “Is that what the center of town looks like in Neumarkt?! That’s so different from Bernardsville! The roofs are so pointy!” “Look! They’re in a bakery!” “Whoa! They just spoke German!” “Bruder means brother in German! I have two bruders!” “They speak English so well! When do they start learning English?!” “They have food that looks like hot dogs!” “I think a German Shopping Center is the same thing as our American mall!” I could go on and on. Real, authentic learning about 21st century Germany had entered my classroom. We were 4,011 miles apart, yet it felt like we were simply being carted along for a stroll through Neumarkt by lifelong friends.

The Flipgrid videos shared by the students in Neumarkt sparked the imaginations and interests of my students in New Jersey. They gave us jumping off points for further, authentic, student-driven research. What was that ‘hot dog-like’ food we saw? Did Germans invent the hot dog? Why are the roofs in the center of Neumarkt pointy like that? Does that style of architecture have a particular name? How do you say sister

in German? Do we use any German words in the USA? Can we learn more German? Again, I could go on and on.

Over the course of the coming months, Veronika and I planned to keep the exchange going, but as our busy schedules took over, our virtual exchange took a backburner. As I reflected on the experience and thought, “Why didn’t we keep this amazing thing going?,” I realized that more structure, planning, goal setting, and timelines on our end would have brought this project to the next level and kept the momentum going. We went in with enthusiasm, but would have seen greater long term success had we asked ourselves planning questions such as: How many times throughout the year do we hope our students communicate? Can we set specific dates to ensure these conversations happen? How broad or narrow should our discussion topics be? Should we pose each grid conversation to the whole class, or should we pair up one German and one American student so they converse back and forth directly? What skills or cultural topics do we hope our students teach each other, and how can we best guide them to do so?

By utilizing new technologies, Veronika Northam and the girls at the Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen in Neumarkt, brought Germany to my American classroom in the most authentic way possible. We were not sure how our virtual exchange would pan out, but as with many innovative ideas, we knew we had to jump right in and go for it. We stretched the brains of our students. We sparked an interest in each other’s respective country and culture. We forged a virtual exchange between Germany and the USA. We collaborated across continents and across time zones. We connected students in a multi-age setting. We thought outside the box. We took a risk.

Students from Sol C. Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia, USA, and the Wilhelm-Kaisen-Oberschule, Bremen, Germany, visit the beach during their student exchange.

Alumni Contribution: Making Student Exchange a Reality

Following his 2005 TOP study tour, Jason Buelterman began incorporating information about Germany into his classroom instruction. Over time, this developed into a desire to start a student exchange program with a German school.

As a 2005 TOP Alumnus, I started incorporating what I learned about German history, from my adventure with TOP, into my lessons in my International Baccalaureate (IB) History class. My inspiration for starting an exchange program with a German school was definitely the TOP trip I took 13 years Jason Buelterman ago. Our school, Sol C. Johnson High is the coordinator of the International School in Savannah, Georgia worked Baccalaureate (IB) for 18 months to develop a sister school Programme and IB history teacher at Sol relationship with a high school in C. Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia, Germany. As part of the IB Programme, USA, and serves as the our teachers wanted to give students Mayor of the City of Tybee Island. an opportunity to travel outside of the country to a place that speaks one of the languages offered in the Programme.

Working with the Savannah Economic Development Authority (SEDA), we were able to identify and make contact with a sister school located in Bremen, Germany, the “Wilhelm-Kaisen-Oberschule,” and both schools agreed to arrange a student exchange. The experience was partially

funded by SEDA as well as a large private donation, which defrayed the cost of chaperone travel. Students were responsible for paying for their flight and passport. The goal of the exchange program was to provide an opportunity for students who would otherwise find it financially challenging to pay for such an excursion. By identifying a school with students from similar socio-economic backgrounds, we were able to defray the costs of the trip due to the housing provided to students by each school/community.

To begin, Johnson High School’s IB seniors conducted two Skype sessions with students at Wilhelm-Kaisen during the 2017-2018 school year. The students were able to learn about one another using Skype so that when the German students arrived in Savannah, they wouldn’t be strangers.

In March of 2018, students and staff from Germany arrived in Savannah for a 10 day visit. During the visit, the German students and teachers resided with Johnson High School staff and students, and others in the community who agreed to serve as hosts. Both our students at Johnson and our German visitors had a wonderful time. They took a walking tour of downtown Savannah and met our City’s continued on following page....

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018 MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

By Jason Buelterman (TOP 2005)

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Students from Sol C. Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia, bring their new German friends to the airport at the end of their student exchange.

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

mayor. They took a tour of the Georgia Ports Authority and Gulfstream Aerospace, volunteered their time to clean up Tybee Island’s beach, and explored the culture, history, and food of Savannah. The German students attended classes at our school alongside our students and spent a lot of time socializing. By the end of the visit, they became friends.

When the time came for the German students to leave Savannah, our students saw them off at the airport and shed a lot of tears! They still communicate with one another on social media.

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A huge thanks go out to WilhelmKaisen teachers Irina Woodard and Christina Kirste. They worked very hard to make this a success. They were instrumental in making this exchange a reality.

Then in late May 2018, some of Johnson’s IB Seniors traveled to Bremen to experience a taste of life there. They attended school at Wilhelm-Kaisen, toured the ports facilities, the local art museums and other attractions. They took a bike

tour and explored the history and culture of Bremen. After ten days in Bremen, they came back to Savannah and started bragging about what a great time they had!

This exchange will continue in the 2019-2020 school year and beyond. Johnson students will travel to Bremen in May of 2019, and Wilhelm-Kaisen students will travel to Savannah in the spring of 2020. Additionally, students will continue to interface with one another via Skype to discuss history, politics, and other topics of mutual interest. Recently, our students took part in a Skype discussion with their German counterparts, about the 1932 Reichstag elections as part of our history classes.

A huge thanks go out to Wilhelm-Kaisen teachers Irina Woodard and Christina Kirste. They worked very hard to make this a success. They were instrumental in making this exchange a reality. In addition to all the work they put in to plan for their students’ trip to Savannah and all the preparations they made to host our students, they took time away from their families to travel along with their students to Savannah. They selflessly gave their time and energy to provide their students and ours’ with an amazing experience.

This student exchange wouldn’t have been possible without their efforts.

Alumni Contribution: Never Gnome Alone

TOP Alumnus Evan Chapman applied for and received a TOP mini-grant, which funded a special project on Germany at his school.

Last fall, I partnered with our Gifted and Talented program to create a unique and fun student led project using garden gnomes. Garden gnomes (Gartenzwerge) first created in 18th century Germany, have long since been a symbol of the natural environment and environmental awareness for many Germans. We thought that this would Evan Chapman is a social studies educator be a great way for students to learn at Stonewall Jackson more about German sustainability Middle School in Mechanicsville, Virginia, efforts, as well as, promote recycling USA. within the school and local community.

Initially, the project was slated for only about a week of instructional time, but became more in-depth once students began researching. 7th and 8th grade students took part in an Alumni Mini Grant-funded study of German Sustainability efforts (and excessive “pun”-ishment by all involved) in a unit we called “Never Gnome Alone”. This unit involved co-teaching and collaboration with several staff members,

Students at Stonewall Jackson Middle School paint ceramic gnomes with Germany themes.

including an assistant principal, our Instructional Technology Resource Teacher, as well as our German teacher. We also received support from the Mass Communication teacher at Lee-Davis High School. We embarked on this journey not knowing exactly how it would end, but seeing the value in its potential. We work in a school that services students with

diverse economic backgrounds, many that may never get the opportunity to visit other countries. Our hope was that this project would foster their learning and allow them to realize its impact on the world.

Students were first exposed to various German companies (Gnome Wasn’t Built In A Day) and the huge citizen involvement in sustainability efforts around the country (95% of Germans are supportive and involved in their efforts) making them realize they didn’t gnome enough about the companies and o rg a n i z a t i o n s . student at Stonewall Jackson Middle School After researching A presents the Never Gome Alone project on the specific groups student-produced Gnome News Network. (the German legislature, BMW, Allianz Arena, Haribo, etc.) and finding they wanted to know more, students composed emails to the various groups asking for more information (Can I Get Your Gnome-ber?). Students were excited and surprised when many, including the German government, prison system, and DHL, emailed personal messages to them as a show of international cooperation and aiding in their search for knowledge. Students were then tasked with writing an informative one-page summary about their findings and, after becoming a gnome-owner, they designed a garden gnome figure that symbolized the sustainability efforts of their research topic. They showed off and explained the symbolism using FlipGrid (Say Hello to My Little Friend). The QR codes for these descriptions are now displayed in the hallway with a map of their pinpointed German locations and will also be on display at Hanover Arts and Sciences Festival. As a culminating experience, classes collaboratively created a TV news broadcast for

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By Evan Chapman (TOP 2015) and Amy Faires

continued on following page....

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Students from Sol C. Johnson High School in Savannah, Georgia, USA, and the Wilhelm-Kaisen-Oberschule, Bremen, Germany, visit the beach during their student exchange.

GNN, the Gnome News Network- where gnome news is good news. Each group decided what newsworthy event needed to be reported and, using green screen software, were digitally transported to report ‘on-scene’ in the streets and factories of German cities. (If you’d like to get a glimpse into this project, search #GnomeNewsNetwork on Twitter.)

The GNN reports were compiled and broadcast schoolwide.

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Students at Stonewall Jackson Middle School produced a news show to present their Never Gnome Alone project.

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The educators I worked with on this project see themselves as a facilitators of student learning; they learn and we model learning alongside. Over the course of this project, they saw us ask questions, seek the expertise of others, and get answers! They became more globally aware and cognizant of the impact we have on our world as well as innovations that are impacting the world. In fact, they were excited to see that 60 Minutes featured the German prison system three months after they did! Ultimately, we grew together and had fun along the way.

Tips: Certainly teachers cannot give up 2 months of instructional time for a project of this scale. However, teachers can easily scale it down by giving students preselected information and have them create gnomes on paper instead of ceramic ones. Elementary teachers could add a book to

read with students as a hook into the mini lesson.

I recommend using the resources that TOP provides and adapt them to your own classroom lessons. I took an idea from the Let’s Explore Modern Germany in the Contemporary Life section on “Let’s be Green” and transformed it into a lesson from the Germany in Focus resource by adapting the “Greening your School” lesson on having students take more ownership on becoming more environmentally conscious.

Don’t go at it alone! “Never Gnome Alone”! Email, call, and reach out to TOP and they can help you facilitate your project and even set you up with contacts in Germany to better enhance the student experience. We made contact with the National Police, Angela Merkel’s office, and schools thanks to TOP’s help.

The greatest obstacles we had were mostly logistical.

The time difference made it a little difficult to Skype or do a Google Hangout, but you can pre-record video and then send it. If language was an issue, we had TOP send emails on our behalf in German and then helped us translate once we received the correspondence back.

Project Impact: The seventh and eighth graders who took part in our Alumni Mini Grant-funded study of German sustainability efforts definitely mastered core science, technology, and engineering standards, but they also mastered critical thinking and problem solving skills to create their own gnomes.

After the project concluded, those same students, kept the German idea of sustainability alive during their study of Utopia and Dystopia by creating an Escape Room that was called Gnomewhereland, and some have since spearheaded recycling projects both within and outside the classroom.

2018 Alumni Mini-Grant Winners Dmitry Kogan (TOP 2017) Ivy Academia West Hills, CA, USA

“German Music Remix: Then and Now” Using DJ and other music equipment, students will create original pieces of work inspired from German musical artists.

Students will critically analyze how electronic music has shaped Berlin’s identity and, integration from the fall of the Berlin Wall to present day by reading articles, discussing their ideas with their classmates and by writing a reflection. Students will write a case-study of a German DJ or musical artist and investigate how that artist has helped shape German identity and/or integration. Students will create an original thematic DJ mix inspired by German artists that creatively illustrate contemporary issues in Germany. Finally, students will perform their mixes at Ivy Academia’s E-Convention, as well as host a booth highlighting German culture and contemporary issues.

TOP Alumni Mini-Grant Announcement In the spirit of continuing the dialogue on modern Germany and increasing global competency in North American classrooms, TOP offers its Alumni funding for class, club, and school-wide projects related to current issues in Germany.

Criteria: The purpose of this Mini-Grant is to support a class, club, or school-wide project that encourages students to learn about, research, experience, and discuss current issues using Germany as a case study. You may propose funding for a project on any topic that is of interest to your students, as long as it relates to contemporary issues in Germany. We encourage projects that involve online exchanges with German students and are happy to help connect you with a partner teacher.

Eligibility: Mini-Grants are available to all TOP Alumni (past Fellows) and can be used to support a class, club, or school project at any grade level.

Available Funding: TOP Alumni may apply for MiniGrants to fund projects in the amount of $500 - $2,500. Your proposal should include a detailed budget for the project,

Briggs Chaney Middle School Silver Spring, MD, USA

“Germany Case Study: Modern Political Systems in Europe” The purpose of this Mini-Grant is to support a week-long class project that encourages students to learn about, research, experience, and discuss current issues using Germany as a case study (from an economic, social, and political lens). This project relates to contemporary issue of Germany in the European Union. Students will be able to answer essential questions such as a.) “What is Germany’s role within the European Union and how does it benefit from the EU?” b.) “Why is Germany disproportionately powerful in the EU?” c.) “Is Germany too big for the EU or is the rest of the EU too weak?” d.) “Should Germany leave the EU and if so, what would happen?”

with the proposed total project cost falling anywhere within the available range. Funding could be used, for example, to pay for project-specific supplies, local student transportation, classroom equipment for online exchanges, newspaper subscriptions, etc. All requests for funding must be directly related to what you need to carry out the proposed project with your students. We will not fund: teacher travel without students; basic school supplies such as paper or pencils; food/beverage costs, etc.

Application

Process:

Proposals

should

be

approximately 2-3 pages in length and provide a title and detailed description of the project, its objectives, activities, and learning outcomes. Proposals should also include a detailed project budget. All proposals should be submitted as an email attachment to top@washington.goethe.org.

Deadlines and Project Period: Proposals will be accepted on a rolling basis. Projects should be completed within the same school year as the grant is distributed.

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Dr. Jermaine Ellerbe (TOP 2017)

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Stasi Breakout Lesson Plan

The Stasi (East German Secret Police) is holding you in their interrogation room. It is only a matter of time before they return with evidence to put you away indefinitely. You must solve the puzzles to break out of the room before they return!!!

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By Derek Frieling (TOP 2016)

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Breakout/Escape rooms have become popular around the United States recently. In most venues, participants solve a series of puzzles to escape within one hour. A great variety of puzzles are solved by opening combination locks, triggering pressure sensitive trap doors, discovering hidden rooms, finding Derek Frieling is a National Board clues hidden in pictures, driving Certified social studies remote cars, pointing lasers, utilizing educator at Lafayette High School and of mirrors...the concepts are endless.

Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Why not bring the excitement to your Missouri, USA. class???

I personally have become addicted to the escape room phenomenon. After breaking out of a few professionally prepared rooms, I knew I had to bring the experience to my students. It was only a matter of finding the time to build the game and the right theme to incorporate with the curriculum. During my journey with TOP to Germany in the summer of 2016, the theme presented itself to me.

I wanted to build something to use in my Cold War unit.

Visits to the Stasi Museum, Point Alpha, and other locations along the Iron Curtain provided ample resources to build my game.

Teachers have begun to utilize the popular game experience to enhance experiences for their students. You can begin by going to websites like http://www.breakoutedu. com or https://www.theescapeclassroom.com. These sites demonstrate how to build the game to fit your education needs and provide a framework of how to construct a game in your class. Kits are available for purchase so you can construct your own breakout game. Actually, I preferred to purchase my own locks and containers. I did not want to be restricted to the locks available in the kits and I’ll have to admit it was fun finding exactly what I needed to build the game.

Developing a theme, or back story, is essential to generate initial student interest. In my game, I first lock the class door with a numerical combination lock (with administrative permission). Then I announce to my students they have been detained by the Stasi in an interrogation room. They must solve a series of puzzles to break out of the room before they come back with enough evidence to sentence you to prison indefinitely. I then discuss the rules and hints necessary to be successful in the game. The game then starts when I hand one student a special key with a magnet in it.

Professional games give you an hour to escape and have a success rate ranging between from about 20 to 40%.

In the classroom, I want my students to be successful and complete the entire game so they utilize all their notes we have previously taken in class to make the game successful as a review for the test. Therefore, instead of a time limit, I use a stopwatch to determine which class can escape in the

shortest amount of time. Challenging other classes and the backdrop of the game itself provides enough motivation for my students so that I did not have to even bother enticing them with candy, extra credit, or other prizes.

The first step was to build the game itself. There were two challenges I needed to overcome. Since most locks are numerical combination locks, I had to figure out how to write clues without just using dates. Dates would have been easy, but are not important for reviewing unit objectives. I solved this problem by making many of the puzzles two steps. For example, instead of just asking when was the Iron Curtain Speech delivered, I provided the speech without the title and students had to first analyze the primary document to figure out what it was before they could plug in the date to open the lock.

The other challenge was to design the game without locking essential clues in the wrong containers so that it would make the game impossible to solve. The game is more fun if students cannot see all the clues at the start of the game. It should be designed so students must unlock some containers in order to find additional clues and other containers they will need later. I had to map out the entire game on a sheet of butcher paper to visualize the flow pattern of the game to ensure the clues the students needed to solve the puzzle were not locked in a place unobtainable.

That is, you don’t want to lock the clue of the puzzle they are trying to solve inside the container that the students are trying to unlock. Finally, make sure you game test with friends or other teachers. There are bound to be some glitches that need to be worked out.

I will be glad to share my lesson plans and game with you if you email me at derek.frieling@sjsd.k12.mo.us. Please provide an email address in which I can share my Google Doc folder with you. Even better though, is for you to build your own game to match your content. Have fun and don’t let the Stasi catch you!

TOP Alum Brian Phillips (TOP 2015) from Holtville, CA, uses breakout activities to workshops interesting.

Check out his TOP breakout game at: https://bit.ly/2zqErQK

Derek Frieling’s students participate in a Stasi-themed breakout activity.

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

keep his TOP professional development

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2018 TOP Study Tour Highlights TOP 1

TOP 2

Cities: Trier, Mainz, Michelstadt, Braunschweig, Berlin

Cities: Düsseldorf, Würzburg, Chemnitz, Berlin

Dates: June 1-16, 2018

Dates: June 15-30, 2018 Group leader: Jenny Windell

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Group leader: Jennifer Jolley

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Group leader highlight: TOP 1 lived two memorable weeks in Germany. Perhaps the highlight for all of us was personally meeting and socializing with German teachers and students. We visited many specialized schools including vocational, dualeducation, gymnasium, and a special education school.

With all of these interactions, we did not want to leave. It was never enough time to ask our questions! We tasted wine at a hospitability school where students become professional vintners in Bernkastel-Kues, played foosball with students at an automotive manufacturer in Trier, punted down a waterway in canoes with educators in Braunschweig, and barbequed with teachers at their homes in Michelstadt. I smile when I think about all the friends we made and laughs we shared. We also met a few government officials. The mayor of Michelstadt toasted our visit with champagne, and we feasted at lunch with two representatives from the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin. We learned there are more similarities than differences with our German colleagues than we thought.

Group leader highlight: TOP 2 had so many amazing experiences in Germany, from visiting a coal mine turned UNESCO World Hertitage Site in Essen, to the Main “wine” bridge in Würzburg, to the iconic church in Seiffen, to the multicultural neighborhood of Neukölln in Berlin. My favorite moment of the trip though, was a very special meeting we had with the Vice-President of the Parliament of the state of Nordrhein-Westfalen, Ms. Angela Freimuth, and other members of German-American Parliamentarians’ Group. The met us in the Landtag (state capital building), where we had a roundtable discussion about vital issues in the German-American relationship.

The parliamentarians were eager to answer even our toughest questions, but also had many questions for the group and genuinely wanted our insights on these issues. After the discussion they stayed for informal chats and invited the group to contact them with other questions or to set up video chats with their students!

This was truly a unique experience for all of us.

TOP 3

Dates: June 15-30, 2018 Cities: Mainz, Geisa, Leipzig, Berlin

Group leader: Nathan Larsen Group leader highlight: TOP 3 experienced many highlights over the course of our two weeks in Germany.

We were able to see the Gutenberg Bible, learn about fiscal and monetary policy decisions at the Deutsche Bundesbank, walk along the former border between East and West Germany in Geisa, enjoy home visits in Leipzig, learn from visits to exceptional schools as well as organizations working to help asylum seekers integrate,

TOP 4 / STEM

Dates: June 29 – July 14, 2018 Cities: Adelsheim, Stuttgart, Duisburg, Berlin

Group leader: Wood Powell Group leader highlight: Looking back on TOP (STEM) 4 2018, I can’t help but recall the words of Thoreau who wrote, “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach...I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life...” How is that for a “STEAM” reference? And into the woods we went, starting our adventure at the State Academy of Environmental Education in Adelsheim before continuing to Stuttgart, Duisburg, and eventually Berlin. But one moment truly comes to mind when I think about those lovely two weeks with those amazing STEM educators: guided by our illustrious Turkish-American compatriot, we found ourselves surrounded by mountains of savory Turkish treats. In between Kebabs, I bet “street interviewer” Tammy, who had been eying the festivities at a neighboring table with her usual curiosity, to go over and say hello. She took the bait (as I knew she would) and not a minute later she found herself in the middle of six Turkish girlfriends before leading us – and half of

the restaurant - in “Happy Birthday” song! How is that for sucking the marrow of life? We were all – and will always be - decidedly WunderbarTogether!

TOP 5

Dates: June 29 – July 14, 2018 Cities: Frankfurt, Würzburg, Fulda, Geisa, Berlin

Group leader: Bruce Damasio Group leader highlight: This was my first time leading a TOP team to Germany and to pick one highlight out of months of planning and 15 days together in DC and then on our travels as we moved around the country is truly a challenge. Every day was a “E pluribus Unum” moment: from many into one. Teachers from across the nation and of many years of teaching experience daily formed groups and colleagues of interests made possible by the daily schedule, events and places we were and traveled to. In pondering this limited space to select a highlight, I suggest our meeting in Fulda, a stop on the way to Geisa that afternoon, with the Welcome Initiative Fulda. There we experienced the passion and energy of our host, Mr. Jochen Schiersch who is the project coordinator of the ‘Welcome In Living Room” in Fulda. As he spoke and shared his vision for working with refugees, you could embrace his quest, goals and energy and our group was so focused on his topic and introducing us to Nasser Bozan, a refugee who is associated with the project. Our picture as a group that day with so many smiles is a treasure and I know many of our group have been in touch with Nasser since meeting him in Germany. For each individual of our group, moments like this and our overall visit to Germany was the culmination of much effort prior to going, each day together in Germany and once home, being in touch and applying the time there to the schools, peers and students here. We truly were and are a band of brothers, individuals who came together and formed TOP 5. I was blessed to lead them and will always be grateful for that time. ...continued on next page

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

and spend a very powerful a f t e r n o o n with Margot Friedlander. Each of these visits, as well as many others, impacted the group and will influence so much more than a single unit of learning as group members share their experiences with students and colleagues alike. I believe what stood out most about this study tour was the consistent message that we are all human beings with the same blood running through our veins; that we are all the same and can have an incredible impact by showing love and kindness to our fellow man.

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2018 TOP Study Tour Highlights (cont.)

TOP 6

Dates: July 13-28, 2018 Cities: Munich, Kaufbeuren, Nuremberg, Geisa, Berlin

Group leader: Jenny Windell

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Group leader highlight: This was wonderful study tour with so many amazing moments, but my favorite experience of the trip was our visit to the Staatliche Realschule für Mädchen in Neumarkt. The students and their incredible teacher, Veronika Northam, had prepared a Germany-themed photo booth, a tour of the school, a delicious lunch of Bavarian Weißwurst with soft pretzels and sweet mustard, and a funny and informative skit in which they taught the group the correct way to eat a Weißwurst. After our visit to the school, the girls accompanied us to Nuremberg, where we participated in a guided tour of the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. Our guides explained the history of the place and how it has been interpreted (or not) as

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a site of collective memory, but also shared with us the strategies they use with school students to teach them about the Nazi past and what it means for Germany’s future. The students who participated with us shared their thoughts with us over a wonderful meal in a Biergarten afterwards. We are so grateful to Veronika for organizing such a meaningful learning experience and to her students for sharing their time, thoughts, and talents with us!

TOP Guide Spotlight:

Özlem Ela Cosen My favorite improv game is called Top That. I want to “play” it to share my experiences with TOP. One needs to highlight the most negative and positive elements of a story by finishing each anecdote with a punchline and a “top that”. Getting more negative and positive as the story continues. Here I go alternating negative and positive experiences in no particular chronological order: My experiences leading TOP groups: The airconditioing on the bus is broken. Top That. We get to sleep in a castle, a castle I say. Top That.

During a home visit, a teacher on her birthday is served raspberry punch, raspberry cake, raspberry everything, made from the rasperry bushes from the hosts. The teacher has a severe raspberry allergy. Top That. I get to scheme on a marriage proposal. She actually accepts the proposal. We become friends. Top That. Taking two teachers to the emergency room and a private clinic after a freak accident. Top That. The private clinic has the most impressive waiting room offering drinks & snacks. Top That. I forgot some of your names. Top That. I remember many of you so vividly, feel blessed and thankful about our encounters and new friendships. Particularly, I feel inspired to explore and travel the world.

Because almost every TOP teacher taught me something new about things I thought I knew and uncovered worlds yet to be discovered. Top that TOP! So this December I will take a sabbatical with my partner and travel Latin America.

YOUR STUDENTS IN GERMANY!

JOIN OVER 750 SCHOOLS ALREADY PARTICIPATING IN GAPP EXHANGES IN THE USA: VISIT WWW.GOETHE.DE/GAPP E-MAIL GAPP@GOETHE.DE

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

BUILD CONFIDENCE GLOBAL COMPETENCE FRIENDSHIPS

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2018 Transatlantic Outreach Program Fellows David Allen

Lisa Cain

Carla Gray

Michael Anderson

Faye Cassell

Nicholas Green

Dawn Ashby

Mark Chapman

Interlochen Art Academy Interlochen, MI, USA

Otto Fischer School Orange, CA, USA

Parkview High School Lilburn, GA, USA

Haya Bacharouch

Global Educational ExcellenceCentral Academy Ann Arbor, MI, USA

Caroline Bare

Hanover High School Mechanicsville, VA, USA

Alyson Battistel Milwaukie High School Milwaukie, OR, USA

Alan Birkemeier Central Middle School Columbus, IN, USA

Kathy Bosiak

Lincolnton High School Lincolnton, NC, USA

Colleen Breen

Athens High School The Plains, OH, USA

Hannah Christian

George Washington Carver Center for Arts and Technology Baltimore, MD, USA

Jaclyn Clark

Cosby High School Midlothian, VA, USA

Amy Dawes

Scullen Middle School Naperville, IL, USA

Paul Desruisseaux

Joliet Central High School Joliet, IL, USA

Rebecca DiBrienza

Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School Scotch Plains, NJ, USA

Sarah Dyvig

Wichita Public Schools, West High School Wichita, KS, USA

Emily Griggs

Boston Public Schools, TechBoston Academy Boston, MA, USA

Glen Gurner

Brookline High School Brookline, MA, USA

Tammy Guthrie

Hellstern Middle School Springdale, AR, USA

Christine Hanna

ASTEC Charter High School Oklahoma City, OK, USA

Cheryl Healy

Seattle Preparatory School Seattle, WA, USA

Gregory Hill Horn High School Mesquite, TX, USA

Jessie Hitchcock

Timothy Flanagan

Daniel Hoppe

Yolanda Flores

Bethany Horning

Karen Forsyth

Stephen Hudson

West Windsor Plainsboro High School South West Windsor, NJ, USA

Jennifer Genova

Oktay Ince

Kirstin Bullington

Elizabeth Gonzalez

Thomas Broderick

Scotts Ridge Middle School Ridgefield, CT, USA

Joshua Brown

Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School Northridge, CA, USA

Leila Buckley MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Newton South High School Newton, MA, USA

Nicholas County High School Carlisle, KY, USA

Marie G. Davis K-8 IB Candidate School Charlotte, NC, USA

Oley Valley Middle School Oley, PA, USA

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Wando High School Mount Pleasant, SC, USA

George Jenkins High School Lakeland, FL, USA

Danielle Buggé

Richland Two Institute of Innovation Columbia, SC, USA

Pawcatuck Middle School Pawcatuck, CT, USA

Navajo Preparatory School Farmington, NM, USA

Bemis Junior High School Sterling Heights, MI, USA

Woodbury School Salem, NH, USA

C. Douglas Killough High School Lewisville, TX, USA

Bowie High School Bowie, MD, USA

Stevens Point Area Senior High Stevens Point, WI, USA

Century High School Bismarck, ND, USA

R.F. Bumpus Middle School Hoover, AL, USA

Horizon Science Academy Dayton High School Dayton, OH, USA

Gwendolyn Jones

L. E. Willson Elementary School Sheffield, AL, USA

Kenneth Kantz

Jordan Penner

Valerie Sweet

Brenda Klawonn

Michael Prellwitz

Edward Tierney

Laurel Kuepker

Ellie Reich

Kyle Tredinnick

Alexis Lisenby

Megan Rice

Melissa Tschetter

Victor Lulo

Jennifer Roman

Kulsum Vakharia

Kelly Scanlon

Ron Wendt

Anne Schaefer

Brandon Westlake

Christine Scoby

Deborah Whetstone

Amanda Shuman

Nicole Willard

Kristen Sinicariello

Annie Williams

Bridget Smith

Debora Wines

Ruth Smith

Kimberly Young

Kristin Strobel

Valerie Ziegler

Aurora High School Aurora, NE, USA

Trinity High School Euless, TX, USA

East Garner Magnet Middle School Garner, NC, USA

Ronald Reagan Doral Senior High School Doral, FL, USA

Nicole Maffei

Hereford High School Parkton, MD, USA

Tyler Maxon

Walnut Creek Alternative High School West Des Moines, IA, USA

Leanna McClure

Kha‘p‘o Community School Espanola, NM, USA

Meredith McGovern Parkway High School Bossier City, LA, USA

Kara-Lynne McMillan

Bronx Collaborative High School Bronx, NY, USA

Robert Mooney

Van Hoosen Middle School Rochester Hills, MI, USA

Aubrie Neil

Pyramid Lake Jr/Sr High School Nixon, NV, USA

Kevin Nord

New Hope-Solebury High School New Hope, PA, USA

Emily Osborne

Mahtomedi High School Mahtomedi, MN, USA

Westpark School Portage la Prairie, MB, Canada

Columbia Heights High School Columbia Heights, MN, USA

Denmark High School Denmark, WI, USA

Pelham Memorial High School Pelham, NY, USA

Meade Middle School Fort Meade, MD, USA

Barnette Magnet School Fairbanks, AK, USA

San Jose Middle School Novato, CA, USA

Shorecrest Preparatory School St Petersburg, FL, USA

Paul Public Charter School Washington, DC, USA

Columbia Heights High School Columbia Heights, MN, USA

Camas County School District #121 Fairfield, ID, USA

Hepburn School Hepburn, SK, Canada

Lexington High School Lexington, MA, USA

Amy Studts

Westside High School Omaha, NE, USA

Matthew Sudnik The Madeira School McLean, VA, USA

Monacan High School N. Chesterfield, VA, USA

S. F. Austin High School Austin, TX, USA

Zoo Academy Omaha, NE, USA

Billings Career Center Billings, MT, USA

KIPP Atlanta Collegiate Atlanta, GA, USA

Campbell High School Smyrna, GA, USA

St. Joseph‘s Academy St. Louis, MO, USA

Florida State University Schools Tallahassee, FL, USA

Massabesic High School Waterboro, ME, USA

North County High School Bonne Terre, MO, USA

Billings Central Catholic High School Billings, MT, USA

Weston High School Weston, MA, USA

Abraham Lincoln High School San Francisco, CA, USA

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

Manheim Township High School Lancaster, PA, USA

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TOP Fellow of the Year Announcement The Transatlantic Outreach Program is pleased to announce that Ms. Ellen Resnek of Morgantown, Pennsylvania, USA, has been selected as the 2018 TOP Fellow of the Year!

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

In conferring this distinction, TOP recognizes and celebrates Ellen’s dedication to strengthening and advancing the relationship between Germany and North America through education. Since traveling to Germany with TOP in 2011, she has collaborated on a number of programs, including curriculum writing for lessons on contemporary Germany. Her class is currently paired with the Modellschule-Obersberg in Bad Hersfeld, located in the former East Germany, on a collaborative Cold War Virtual History Project. She has developed and presented professional development sessions at the local, state, and regional levels, sharing these experiences. Ellen also serves as a TOP Network Trainer Specialist and a TOP Ambassador.

This award represents our gratitude for Ellen’s generosity with her time and expertise. She is a leader among her fellow educators and embodies the spirit of this Year of German-American Friendship, “Wunderbar Together.” We are delighted to honor her achievements with this award.

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Ellen Resnek is a tenth-grade World History and Advanced Placement European History educator at Downingtown East High School in Exton, Pennsylvania, and is the advisor to their National Honor Society, Model UN, Generation for Change, Red Cross, and Key Clubs. She also teaches the University of Pittsburgh College in High School Course „HIST Ellien Resnek 0101: Western Civilization 2.“ Additionally, she is a reader for the AP European History Exam.

Ms. Resnek received her Bachelors of Arts in History from the University of Massachusetts in 1988 and holds two Masters Degrees from Wilkes University. She is a member of the Teacher Advisory Board for The National Constitution Center, responsible for promoting high-quality, nonpartisan, civic education through a variety of activities and programs.

Throughout her teaching career she has attended multiple teacher seminars, including the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), Gilder Lerhman, Foreign Policy Research Institute (FPRI), Classrooms without Borders, USS Midway, Yad Vashem, and Teaching American History (TAH). She was the second-place winner of the George Washington Prize for Teaching America’s Founding in 2008 and received the Lucile Cornetet Individual Award for Professional Development from the Delta Kappa Gamma Educational Foundation in 2008.

In 2011, Ms. Resnek traveled to Germany with the Transatlantic Outreach Program (TOP). Since that time she has collaborated on a number of programs,

including curriculum writing for lessons on contemporary Germany. Her class is currently paired with the Modellschule-Obersberg in Bad Hersfeld, located in the former East Germany, on a collaborative Cold War Virtual History Project. She has developed and presented professional development sessions at the local, state, and regional levels, sharing these experiences. Ms. Resnek also serves as a TOP Network Trainer Specialist and a TOP Ambassador.

Ellen Resnek receives the 2018 TOP Fellow of the Year Award from TOP Managing Director Wood Powell.

TOP STUDY TOURS: Frequently Asked Questions TOP pays for most expenses through the support of its public and private partners. TOP pays for most domestic and international transportation fees, hotel accommodation, two meals per day while abroad (usually breakfast and dinner), and any mandatory study tour related fees, such as museum entry, etc. Each participant will have his or her own hotel room.

• TOP does not pay for airline baggage fees when incurred.

The international airfare includes one checked bag up to approximately 23 kilograms / 50 lbs.

• TOP does not pay for transportation fees (Metro, Taxi, Ride Sharing, etc.) in Washington, DC, during the orientation.

• TOP does not pay for passport/visa renewal fees.

• TOP does not pay for incidental hotel costs, including but not limited to long-distance telephone service, laundry service, mini bar etc.

• TOP strongly suggests each participant budget $300.00 USD for study tour related gifts, gratuities, and one (1) meal per day during the two weeks abroad.

• A refundable deposit is required upon acceptance. The deposit amount for 2019 participants is $350.00 USD. Deposit refund depends on the successful completion of the items listed in the ‘What is the catch?” section of this FAQ.

When do the study tours take place?

The study tours are two weeks in length and take place during the summer months. The specific tour dates are listed at the top of the application form. Applicants are encouraged to select as many of the available dates as possible.

How can I improve my chances of being selected?

Your application can be enhanced by leading a TOP professional development workshop. Workshop evaluation forms must be submitted on or before the study tour application deadline to receive credit. Our TOP Toolkit for Professional Development is a useful resource for planning and leading a workshop about contemporary Germany.

What is the catch?

We ask that all participants come prepared, ready to assume the role of a student and willing to consider new ideas, to proactively engage themselves, to be inquisitive, to be flexible, and to learn as professionals during a fun, yet mentally and sometimes physically intense two weeks in Germany. This is a group study tour. You will spend the majority of your time with the group and in fact, there is not much free time during the two weeks abroad.

To adequately prepare participants for their study tour, we ask for participation in pre-departure webinars that are important for enhancing background knowledge, setting the stage, and providing a foundation for group cohesion. We also require that participants complete pre-departure reading assignments.

Upon returning from Germany, every participant is required to 1) author an original unit of learning consisting of one or more lessons and 2) conduct one TOP professional development workshop at the local district, state, regional, or national level by May 1 of the following year.

The ‘unit’ may consist of any ‘contemporary-Germany-related’ topics of the participant’s choosing but should be aligned to C3 (College, Career, Civic Life) or NGSS (for STEM) standards for learning with the goal of enhancing and assessing students’ global competence.

Just how “physically intense” are the study tours?

While groups travel long distances by plane, train, or bus, participants must sometimes walk distances of several miles (or up to 20,000 steps) per day. Punctuality is paramount, so walking briskly is sometimes necessary. Alternative arrangements will be made for participants with disabilities.

Participants are also responsible for their luggage at all times.

This can be especially challenging when embarking/disembarking trains. Elevators and escalators are also not omnipresent, and navigating stairways with luggage can be problematic for even the most experienced travelers.

The nature of summer weather in Germany, from hot to cold temperatures to frequent rain, can pose unique challenges to travelers.

Please note that air conditioning is not common in northern Europe.

What will the travel itinerary look like?

Each study tour is designed with the specific areas of interest of the selected participants taken into consideration. The emphasis will be on contemporary German issues relating to the political system, education system, vocational education, economy, culture, migration and integration, and environmental sustainability. Additional themes of note include the legacy of the Holocaust, German unification, and European integration. The TOP study tours are designed to provide a comprehensive, 360-degree perspective of contemporary Germany.

May I extend my stay following the study tour?

For the past several years, this policy, also known as the “deviation policy” in travel agency terms, has been dependent on the contractual arrangements made between TOP, its travel agency, and the air carrier providing the service. For summer 2019, TOP will unfortunately be UNABLE to offer deviations / travel extensions to participants due to contractual obligations and the increased personnel costs associated with managing the travel logistics of an unprecedented number of study tour participants. This change in policy is not permanent and must be renegotiated / reconsidered on an annual basis.

Apply Online!

www.goethe.de/topstudytours

MODERN GERMANY UPDATE - FALL/WINTER 2018

How much does the study tour cost?

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TOP

TRANSATLANTIC OUTREACH PROGRAM

TRANSATLANTIC OUTREACH PROGRAM GOETHE-INSTITUT WASHINGTON 1990 K STREET NW, SUITE 03 WASHINGTON, DC 20006

WWW.GOETHE.DE/TOP TOP@WASHINGTON.GOETHE.ORG 202-847-4700

THE TRANSATLANTIC OUTREACH PROGRAM IS A PUBLIC / PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP.