For more than 20 years, Geilenkirchen Elementary School (GKES) and the Katho-lische Grundschule in Teveren, Germany (near GK NATO Airbase) have shared an annual joint study trip.

This year, the third grade students from GKES hosted this event and planned a trip to the Krefelder Zoo, June 10.

GKES students learned “small talk” phases and answers in their Host Nation classes. Question sheets and games were provided by the classroom teachers so students had activities to do while travelling to and from the zoo.

“It really makes you feel successful as a teacher when you hear the students speaking German outside the classroom” remarked Cindy Gehrmann, Host Nation teacher at GKES.

Gehrmann and 3rd grade teachers, Susan Schubert and Sue LeRoy accompanied the GKES students on the trip. Schubert was one of the first teachers to start a German immersion program at GKES, but retires from DoDEA this spring after a 26-year teaching career.

“It’s been an amazing experience to see this German-American partnership flourish among the students every year. Events like this give them practical opportunities to cross cultural barriers and expand their horizons,” Schubert observed.
In 2005, both schools shared the 1st place prize in the Sparkasse Begegnungspreis for advancing friendships and cultural partnerships with people of other nations. With that prize money, both schools have been able to finance the combined trips and activities each year.

Next year, the Teveren Grundschule will host the GKES students.

Published July 9, 2010