News

Another year comes to an end...

After some delay, we finally managed to hold our annual German Honor Society elections. You can see who our new officers are by clicking here. Best of luck to all of the new officers next year!

Finally, it has come time to wish farewell to our terrific German teacher, Frau Vaden. After almost 40 years in the FCPS system, she is departing for her well-deserved retirement. Wir danken Ihnen für fast zehn Jahren mit uns bei TJ! Viel Glück im Ruhestand!

Another year comes to an end...

After some delay, we finally managed to hold our annual German Honor Society elections. You can see who our new officers are by clicking here. Best of luck to all of the new officers next year!

Finally, it has come time to wish farewell to our terrific German teacher, Frau Vaden. After almost 40 years in the FCPS system, she is departing for her well-deserved retirement. Wir danken Ihnen für fast zehn Jahren mit uns bei TJ! Viel Glück im Ruhestand!

Good job!

Yet again, the small TJ German delegation represented itself very well at the annual Modern Foreign Language Tournament (MFLT). Here's a list of the winners, all of them in the Oral Interpretation of Prose or Poetry section:

Deutsch 2
Panya Vij - First Place
Ga Eun Kim - Third Place

Deutsch 3
Gilbert Pitcher - First Place
Linda Ho - Second Place
Vijay Kuruvilla - Third Place

Deutsch AP
Casey Huang - First Place

Thank you to all the participants for representing our program very well!

Lots going on in the world of TJ German

First off, a Herzlichen Glückwunsch for Daniel Mares, who destroyed the competition and won a spot for a free summer trip to Germany! The award comes in conjunction with Daniel's high score on the AATG exam and his recent interview with the coordinator down in Richmond. TJ German students on whole have been wildly succesful in the event over the past several years.

In other news, GHS was proud to perform at I-Night last month. School-wide, we received some excellent reception. This past week, we made masks in our quasi-annual Fasching celebration. A big thanks goes out to Madison Russell, Colleen Marshall, and Samuel Dallstream for organizing and judging the event. Check out some pictures in the tab to the left!

Next month, we will be introducing two new events. Foreign Language Speed-Dating, co-organized with the officers of the French Honor Society, will take place on Wednesday, April 6, B block, and we will have a German-students only Fairytale Fete the next week (probably April 13, B Block). Also, we will be sending our annual delegation to the Modern Foreign Language Tournament in the first week of the month. But, of course, you already know that, because you've been looking at the calendar on a regular basis...

Happy New Year!

We are only about two weeks into the 2011 school year, but there has already been plenty of activity in the German Honor Society! Gingerbread House Making took place on Wednesday the 5th, and was fun as usual. You can check out some of the artful designs in the pictures section on this webpage!

Kevin Pujanowski, former GHS president and blogger extraordinaire, recently paid a visit to the AP German class, where he discussed his experiences in Germany and with his college-level German studies at UVA. A link to his blog can be found in the German Culture tab to the left.

Finally, at last Wednesday's GHS meeting, we set plans in motion for various upcoming events, including I-Night (February 18th). We hope that many of you consider helping out with our traditional German dancing this year, the first time we've participated since 2008! Additionally, we have decided to institute mandatory GHS meetings every A-Block on the first Friday of each month to solidify our plans. Check the calendar for more dates!

News and Notes

Thank you to everyone who came to the Martinstag celebration last Wednesday. Thanks to Tracy Esman for putting together a great presentation on the history of the famous German holiday! The party was our third official event of the year, following the Oktoberfest Party and German Jeopardy. Coming up: Make sure you sign up for Leewood Caroling! We will be taking a team to the Leewood nursing home on Braddock Road Wednesday, December 15, A & B block. You can find forms in the German room! And as a head's up, we will hold our regular Gingerbread House event in January this year.

Congratulations to our prospective new GHS members! Many of you had great ideas for potential GHS activities later this year, so don't be surprised if we see some of them come to fruition down the road. The official induction ceremony will be in June, so make sure you get your required 3 hours per semester!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school! We're looking forward to making this another fantastic year in German! We will hit the ground running with our celebration of the 200th Oktoberfest, which will be next Wednesday, September 29, A & B blocks. Come by for great food, music, dance lessons, and a presentation detailing the stories behind Oktoberfest. Non-German students should bring $1 for admission.

There will be a meeting for all current and prospective members of the German Honor Society in the near future. Stay tuned!

Congratulations!

Congratulations to these German students who took prizes at the Modern Foreign Language Tournament, held April 17 at South Lakes High School:

For Oral Interpretation of Prose or Poetry:

German I:
Panya Vij - First Place
Nathan Huges – Second Place

German II:
Linda Ho - First Place

German III:
Rebecca Hyndman - First Place
J Lee - Second Place

Original Skit:
German III:
Casey Huang and Kate DeWeese - First Place

Upcoming events:

Hey everyone! Here's a rundown of upcoming GHS events:

• May 14th, B-Block: GHS Elections
• May 19th: German Idol
• May 21st: Grillfest
• June 4th: J-Day

There will also be a lunch meeting on April 28th (Wednesday) for those interested in running for GHS office next year (President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Webmaster, and Publicist). Please come if you are planning on running! In order to be eligible you must be a GHS member next year. Even if you were just inducted, you can still be an officer next year.

Service Week and What's New with German Honor Society

For Service week, the German Honor Society will be packing toiletry kits to send to the displaced in Haiti on Wednesday, March 24th, B-block. We hope to see you there.

Here's a run down of upcoming events:

• March 24th, B-block - Service Week toiletry kit packing
• April 14th, A & B - GHS Inductions

We are in need of supplies for the toiletry kits, so please bring in any of the following items that you can find by Wednesday:

• Toothbrushes
• Band aids
• Cake bath size soap (4.5 oz)
• Finger nail clippers
• Wide-toothed combs

We hope to see you at an event soon!

What's new:

Fasching is coming up in a week! There will be German food, mask decorating, and carnival celebrations. We hope to see you there!

Here's a run down of upcoming events:

• Fasching - February 10, both blocks. Come celebrate German Karneval!
• Virginia Organization of German Students conference - February 26-27. A fun German conference at Maggie Walker Governor's School in Richmond. It is to "promote interest in the German language and culture throughout the state of Virginia." Spots are limited – sign up now!
• German Stereotypes Roundtable - March 10, B-block. We will be hosting a presentation and discussion to consider and refute common German stereotypes.
• German Honor Society Inductions - April 7, both blocks. All provisional members need to attend. A German guest speaker will be there to give a presentation, and provisional members will become official members of GHS.
  
  We hope to see you at an event soon!

Oktoberfest and What's New with German Honor Society

Oktoberfest (this past Wednesday, the 28th) went great, and we thank everyone who helped out! We hope you all had fun volkstanzen (folk dancing), eating bratwurst, and singing German songs. We're already looking forward to next year's Oktoberfest!

Here's a list of upcoming events:

• Nov. 11th, A & B - Mauerfall
• December 2nd, A & B - Caroling
• December 16, A & B - Gingerbread Houses

We hope to see you at an event soon!

What's new

Here's a rundown of upcoming GHS events:

• October 7th, A & B Blocks - Film & Foto Klub: Students who visited Germany or attended a German program over the past summer will be giving presentations about their experiences.
• October 13th (Anchor day on a Tuesday) - GHS Meeting
• October 28th, A & B Blocks - Oktoberfest!

We hope to see you at an event soon!

Congratulations!

Frau Vaden and her German students are so pleased to learn that four students have just been awarded a free summer in Germany.The American Association of Teachers of German awards 39 summer study trips of 3.5 weeks in Germany, based on scores from the National German Exam, an application process, and the daunting experience of an interview in German before 4 college professors.For the last 7 years we have been so pleased to have one TJ student receive that honor each summer. This year, three TJ German students were awarded the summer study trip!They are German III students Nihaar Sinha (who was awarded the Kelsey Johnson, and AP German student, Mariet Kurz. More good news: Senior JeanMarie Stewart, who took German through the fifth level,has just been awarded the Kaethe Wilson scholarship from the American Association of Teachers of German. JeanMarie is the only student in the nation to receive this award of participation in a 3 week summer stay in Germany, all expenses paid. All four of these fine German students will experience full German immersion, including living with a German family, and attending a German school.Meanwhile, several of our German seniors have applied and interviewed for a full year German program. We'll keep our fingers crossed (or as Germans say, our thumbs pressed) for Brian Murphy and Rebecca Justice, as they await final word.

Winners!

Finally, we congratulate the following German winners in the Modern Foreign Language Tournament, held at South Lakes High School on March 7: Linda Ho (1st place in German I), Casey Huang (1st place in German II), J. Lee (3rd place in German II), Krissy Brant (1st place in German III), Jake Hermle (2nd place in German III), Katie Mitchell (3rd place in German III),Suzan Ok (1st place in AP German), and Tyler Brobst (2nd place in AP German).

Lebkuchenhaus

Gingerbread house building was a great success. Thank you to everyone one who helped make this event happen and hopefully everyone had a great time. Pictures will be up soon!

First piece of good news: TJ German fared extremely well at the Modern Foreign Language Tournament held Saturday, the 19th. The winners were:

Deutsch I - 1st place: J. Lee
Deutsch II - 1st place: Nihaar Sinah; 2nd place: Katie Mitchell; 4th place: Jake Hermle
Deutsch III - 1st place: Tyler Brobst; 2nd place: Suzan Ok
Deutsch IV - 1st place: Stephen Lam

Congrats to everyone who participated!

Second piece of good news: Thomas Bettge (AP German) and Rebecca Justice (German III) have been accepted into the selective Governor's German Academy for this coming summer. (It's hard to believe, but there are only a few weeks left!)

Herzlichen Glückwunsch! Jackie Lewis has received the Congress-Bundestag scholarship for a year of study in Germany. Kevin Pujinawski, former GHS president, is currently a student there; visit the Culture section for a link to his blog. Scholarship details may be found at CIEE's webpage.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The date for the induction ceremony is Friday, April 18th, 8th period, not Wednesday, April 16th, as was previously listed on the calendar. There was some confusion earlier, but everything has been cleared up.

Debjani Saha, a German AP student, has been awarded the GLOW National German Achievement Award, based on her score on the National German Exam and on her perfomance in an interview with a number of German professors. This is the first year that GLOW (German Learning Opportunities Website) has presented awards. Debjani will receive a certificate and a gift certificate, and will have her name posted on the GLOW Internet site.

Congratulations to German III student, Suzan Ok, who has been awarded the AATG/PAD Study Trip to Germany this summer through the AATG National German Testing program! Click here to access the AATG webpage and to learn more about similar opportunities and awards.

TJ's 1st Annual Foreign Language Olympics Tournament concluded today with the closing ceremonies, held in the main gym during 8th period. We took home 1 gold medal, 2 silvers, and 1 bronze, ranking 6th out of 16 teams. Good job everyone for the wonderful team spirit and enthusiasm you showed! (See the link in the post below for the final results of the contest.)

Click here for a table of the various Olympic events and their locations and times. I will try to keep it updated with the latest medals we win. Los geht's, Deutschland!

Foreign Language Olympics will be held from March 3rd through 14th during lunch and 8th periods, so sign up for an activity and support German! Only a few slots are left. For those not competing, you can support our team by attending the games and cheering for your fellow classmates! Zusammengehörigkeitsgefühl = Erfolg!!!

I-Night is fast approaching on the 18th of April. We will be performing traditional Volkstanzen, as it has been a success in previous years. If you wish to participate, please contact Jessica Shartouny or one of the GHS officers. Help is also appreciated with setup and food, among other things.

Stammtisch has been moved to Fridays during lunch from now on. For authentic German recipes to share with all of us, visit the Culture section of the webpage. Das Kochbuch provides hundreds of recipes--written in English, mind you ^_^.

If this is not the first time you've visited the GHS website, you've probably noticed the new layout. Some features may not be fully implemented yet, so please be patient. Visit the news section for the latest scoop on GHS events. Enjoy!!!