Lisa Ohm Receives Prestigous Grant for Travel in Germany

 Anna Lisa Ohm, Department of Modern & Classical Languages/German Studies Program, has been invited to be one of fourteen guests of the Pädagogischer Austauschdienst (Pedagogy Exchange Service) of the German government to participate in a summer study trip to Bonn and Berlin. The travel group is made up of faculty members from across the nation who are members of the AATG (American Association of Teachers of German) and who serve as coordinators in their respective states for the national AATG high school testing program. Travel will take place in early July.

In December 2012 and January 2013, 540 Minnesota students taking German from seventeen different high schools across the State demonstrated their learning at three different levels in the national written exam. Students are thereby comparing their skills with others on a national level. Minnesota students are doing well, and we hope they continue their study of German in their college years.

Dr. Ohm organized the interviews at CSB for Minnesota high school students who scored 90% or above on the national exam on three different levels. Following the interviews, top-scoring students were invited to a recognition banquet at SJU along with their family members and teachers. The top student, Zoe Novak from St. John’s Prep, received one of the coveted four-week study trips to Germany as a guest of PAD and AATG. While in Germany, Ohm will have an opportunity for the first time to visit with study trip students at their sites in Nürnberg or Berlin.  Gute Reise, Dr. Ohm!

Megan Boettcher Making Plans to Study at Stuttgart Art Academy

Hello Everyone!  I am hoping to study at an art academy in Stuttgart during the 2014-2015 school year. I am going to work on getting a scholarship for this, whether it be through DAAD or the Baden-Würtemberg Scholarship. See you in the fall!

35 Top Students of German from 9 Minnesota High Schools Honored at CSB/SJU Awards Banquet

On Saturday, April 27, 2013, one hundred students, faculty members, parents and friends gathered in the Saint John's University Great Hall to celebrate the achievements of some 35 students who placed in the 90th percentile on the national AATG German test. Before and after a hearty lunch of Wienerschnitzel, Spätzele, Rotkohl und Apfelstrudel, event MC Mark Thamert lead the crowd in singing zwei Kanon-Lieder, Für Speis und Trank and Wann und wo?   

    

Wienerschnizel, Rotkohl, Spätzele, Salat, Apfelstrudel!

Click herer for the complete set of 80 photos from the awards ceremony:  AATG banquet 4-27-13

Dear Minnesota German teachers, Congratulations on your superb work
on behalf of Minnesota's students of German!

This year's honored High Schools:
Academy of the Holy Angels

Apple Valley High School

Hermantown High School

Irondale High School

Northfield High School

Rosemont High School

Saint John's Preparatory School

Saint Paul Academy and Summit School

Wayzata High School

And here are some of Minnesota's finest students of German:

Andreas Kiryakakis, Jae Cody (MNAATG president) and Lisa Ohm

Jae Cody and Mark Thamert, event MC.

Jae Cody congratulates Matt Mitchell on
his being named Minnesota German Teacher of the Year



Jutta Crowder receives the prestigious Concordia Language Villages
4-week summer scholarship on behalf of Saint Paul Academy 



Thank you, Lisa Ohm, for organizing such a wonderful event! 


Here is the complete set of 80 photos from the ceremony: AATG banquet 4-27-13

Special thanks to Jutta Crowder, Jim Nagel, Verena Luthy-Clay, Emmy Sack, Susan Sullivan, Rebecca Waterhouse and Jae Cody for being present to support and congratulate some of Minnesota's finest students of German!

Mark Thamert Receives 2013 CSB/SJU Faculty Award for Effective Use of Information Technology in Teaching and Learning

The Tom Creed Memorial Award for Effective Electronic Pedagogy was established in 2000 to recognize the efforts of those faculty members who strive to effectively incorporate information technology and web applications into their pedagogy. For several years prior to his death in 1999, Tom had worked to develop effective pedagogies using computer and web applications. His efforts were recognized nationally, within the American Association for Higher Education (AAHE), The Collaboration for the Advancement of College Teaching & Learning (formerly the Bush Collaboration), and The Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education (POD Network). He published extensively on this topic and presented many regional workshops to other faculty on the value and use of "Virtual Communal Spaces."

A description of Mark's use of informational technology can be found here:  http://www.employees.csbsju.edu/mthamert/Technology%20--%20Mark/index.html 

John Hasselberg from Our Global Business Leadership Department Visits Germany to Scout Out Internships for CSB/SJU Students

In June 2013, at the invitation of Klaus Jonas, Commercial Specialist for the American Consulate General in Düsseldorf, Germany, John will be part of a Minnesota delegation of five colleges to discuss the following questions: 

·         Do you have already partner universities in Germany, especially in North-Rhine Westphalia / Nordrhein-Westfalen (NRW)? Shall we invite those partners? Do you have names for us of potential invitees?

·         Would you like to meet with scientists/teachers of a similar faculty, equal from which university in NRW?

·         Would you like to meet with potential recruiters of students for your university/college? Persons who are able to research for potential German college students and master students on your behalf? Contractors?

·         Would you like to meet with representatives of private or public universities, or both?

·         Would each one of you prefer to give a 5 minute presentation of your college/university before we open the meeting schedule?

·         Can the American Consulate General provide a list of companies in Germany who are especially open to having American students or recent graduates as summer or year-long interns? 

Thanks a million, John, for your important international work on behalf of our students!